


Starcrossed

by diceysmiles



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Canon Related, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Dimension Travel, Drama, Eventual Romance, Family, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2020-09-26 20:56:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 59,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20396035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diceysmiles/pseuds/diceysmiles
Summary: Hailey Thomas suddenly found herself thrust upon the Batman world from a dimension in which Batman and the Justice League were only fiction. When her life ends, her soul awaits its next female host. All of which have descended from the first, Patricia Josefine Todd. Batman wants to help her but all he can do is keep an eye on her. Until the time comes for Bruce Wayne to intervene, he takes her into his home as his ward.





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> This is an introduction to a character but not the beginning of the story. It's a backstory, so to speak. Dreams and flashbacks will reference back to this introduction and flesh it out further. The beginning of the story will commence about five years after the events in this chapter.

To be so lucky...it was the thought that crossed her mind. She had gone to New York for a couple of weeks. She hadn’t been there in over ten years. She couldn’t believe her luck. A free trip she won for answering a radio stations phone call and saying the right phrase. She hadn’t been too happy that she would go alone. She had to leave her family behind. But it was only for a week. A reprieve that was very much needed. Away from the stresses of her life. However, all that seemed so unimportant at the moment.

If she should be so lucky...to survive a plane crash just hours away from where she lived. She was on her way back. Before she boarded, she felt like she could go back to her life with the emotional and mental strength necessary to face what was to come. But now she wondered whether or not she would even get the chance to fix all the problems she’d left behind.

The passengers were scared. She could feel the nervous energy surrounding her. Two older men sat on either side of her. They both sat stock still as plane jerked up and down. The flight attendant said it would all be okay. It was only turbulence. But the men beside her gripped their armrests pushing their shoulders towards her. They could feel exactly what was happening just like she could. They were losing altitude. And it was happening fast.

She looked at one of the men and then the other. She’d been nervous when she realized she would be sitting between the two men who were twice as wide as she was. They hadn’t even smiled in her direction when they first saw her. They’d actually frowned at her. They didn’t want to be seated next to her any more than she wanted to sit between them. She hadn’t been able to use the armrest the entire flight. Any movement she made, she would accidentally bump into one or the other. They were crowding her. But they actually made her feel relaxed. Because without them knowing, their attitudes made her forget about sexual deviants and she actually closed her eyes after a minute into their flight. When she relaxed they seemed to do so as well. But with the threat of a crash looming over them, she decided to forget about any hostility they’d directed towards her before and reached out to take hold of their hands. They ignored the action or simply didn’t acknowledge that she was giving them courage. Because she needed any courage they could offer. And what better way to do so than to borrow some from your fellow man.

The act of hand-holding might seem trivial. But it holds so much power over the human mind. It makes us feel loved when our significant other takes our hand. It makes us feel safe when our parents take hold of our hand as we cross the street when we’re young. It makes us feel strong when our friend grips our hand when we’re about to make a huge decision. It gives us peace of mind when the nurse takes our hand before surgery and tells us everything will be okay. And it reminds us that we are not alone when a stranger grips our hand as the plane we are in begins to fall to the face of the earth. A single touch can do so much good. It could lead to a hug when a boy saves everyone while gently easing the plane onto the ground saving the passengers from certain death. Except that wasn’t quite right…

Superman didn’t exist.

She looked at the people who were hugging her. A couple who was sitting beside her on a plane that didn’t look anything like the men she’d been sitting next to. She looked around and saw people cheering. But she couldn't hear. The woman who had just released her took her hand. When she looked at their joined hands, she realized that hers was not right. It was wrinkly and covered in liver spots. She looked up at the woman.

The woman was smiling at her and saying rather loudly, “Grandma, it’s alright now. That _super boy_ saved us!”

Super...boy?

She felt her heartbeat quicken.

She turned to look out of the door that was now open and she saw Superman. He was hovering in the air. But he was not the cape-wearing Superman. It was a teenager wearing jeans and a t-shirt. But she would recognize that face anywhere. It was Clark Kent. A very young Clark Kent.

Her heart began to hammer in her chest.

From her peripheral, she saw a flight attendant press a button next to the open hatch leading out and an inflatable ramp appeared. Down below was a field of corn.

No way! This wasn’t real!

A knot of fear formed in her throat.

She felt her breath start to feel labored. Her vision was darkening around the edges.

“Grandma!”

And she was consumed in a void of darkness.

* * *

She was suddenly aware but confused about where she was. The curtains were drawn. The furniture was antique mahogany but in wonderful condition. Almost like new. It was meant to feel warm but there was a coldness to the atmosphere that she couldn’t explain.

“I see you’re awake,” said a male voice from the doorway. “My name is Bruce Wayne and this is my home. You were brought here for your own safety and are recovering from heart surgery. How are you feeling?”

She sat up slowly as she remembered everything that had happened to her since that day that Superman had saved her from a plane crash. The day she had died as an old woman. But her death was due to the shock of being in a universe she didn’t belong. And the ninety-four-year-old body she had been thrust into couldn’t take the emotional strain. After which, she woke in a funeral home in Gotham City and had been in the city ever since. As a matter of fact, every single time she died, she came back younger. She touched her face. It was softer than she thought it’d be.

“I died, didn’t I?” she said seeing the thinner hands before her.

She plucked at the clothes she was wearing. It was some sort of shapeless nightdress that was given to patients in clinics. She looked up to see Bruce Wayne studying her with a small frown marring his features.

“You lost consciousness for a few minutes,” he said and stepped into the room.

“Someone must have revived me. But, I did die,” she said stubbornly. “There is no other explanation for this.”

“For what exactly?” Bruce said now standing near the foot of the bed.

She looked towards the doorway when she heard footsteps and saw an older man walking in with a tray in his hands.

“Hello, Miss. I thought you might be hungry,” said the older man with an accent she couldn’t quite place. British?

“Thanks, but I’m not really hungry,” she said just as her stomach growled rather loudly.

“I beg to differ,” said the older man as he set down the tray. “Some tea and a little broth should do you some good.”

“Tea, huh?” she said and smiled at him. “That does sound good. Thank you, Alfred.”

The two men looked at her in surprise because she already knew Alfred’s name. But they easily schooled their features and decided not to comment on that for the moment.

“And what shall I call you, miss?” Alfred said.

“Oh,” she said after she swallowed her first bit of broth. “I...I don’t remember.”

“Amnesia?” said Alfred.

Bruce closed his eyes. He felt more than compassion towards the young woman. It was a sense of responsibility. The young woman’s sister had died in his arms just before she’d begged him to find the young woman so that he could help her. The sister had been paying for the young woman’s medical treatment ever since their parents died. But after an accident, she couldn’t remember her sister's name. Or where her sister lived. Even so, she had saved money to give to her sister. And she gave Batman everything she had so that he could, in turn, use it to help her sister. She had neglected her own well being and paid the price. During the time the young woman was on her own, CPS had taken her into custody. However, the foster family she'd been placed with didn’t keep up with the young woman’s health care needs until it was almost too late. The young woman almost died but had received an emergency heart transplant that saved her life. By the time Bruce found the young woman, doctors were trying to revive her.

The young woman was alive and well in his home. But her memory may have...

“Uh, no,” she said after some thought and shook her head. “I remember everything since I got here. Since Super…well, he wasn’t quite a man yet. He saved me—er, us—the passengers, from a plane crash...”

She didn’t finish what she was saying. She closed her eyes and a tear escaped her eye. She’d been through so much. She wiped her face angrily. She wouldn’t cry. Not now that she finally had an audience with Bruce Wayne.

“Superman?” said Alfred curiously.

“When was this?” said Bruce. He knew her entire history. From what he understood, she’d never even left Gotham. Or been on a plane for that matter.

“I think he saved me a very long time ago,” she said quickly and busied herself with the bowl of broth. She drank it all without pause.

“Slow down, Miss,” Alfred said taking hold of her wrist trying to bring the bowl down.

“Sorry,” she said after she’d emptied the contents and wiped her mouth. “I’m hungrier than I thought.”

“Perhaps you’d prefer something more substantial?”

“No, no. I couldn’t impose. This was just right,” she said with a small smile after she burped and looked at Bruce who was studying her intently.

“You remember Superman saving you but not your name or your manners? He must’ve made quite the impression,” Alfred said removing the bowl from her hands and setting it aside. He handed her the teacup.

“I suppose,” she said as she stared at the tea. “It feels like it happened ten lifetimes ago, anyway.”

“Other than your name, is there any other detail you may have forgotten?”

“Uh, I guess I wouldn’t remember something I forgot,” she said cheekily. Alfred raised his eyebrow at her. She gave him an apologetic look. “I just know that I don’t remember my real name. I’ve been going by Hailey Thomas.”

“Hailey Thomas?” said Alfred with some curiosity.

“Hailey Thomas,” Bruce said and tilted his head a little. “That name sounds familiar.”

“Well, it should,” Hailey said quickly and almost angrily. “I’ve been trying to make an appointment to see you. But it’s not easy to convince the receptionist at Wayne Enterprises to fit me in sooner than three months.”

“Hmm.”

“I’m sorry that I never make them,” she said sheepishly. “I just never know what day it is when I come back. And when I finally make it to Wayne Enterprises, it’s only to find out that I have already missed my appointment. All I can do is set another one.”

“Come back from where?”

“Oh, um,” Hailey said and looked away.

Bruce and Alfred looked at one another. They wanted to press for answers but thought it was best to be patient. Especially because of her health condition. She had just undergone a heart transplant. And she almost died due to complications. But the young intern who was in charge of her care didn’t give up until the young girl’s heart began to beat again. It was a long ten minutes. The heart surgeon tried to stop the intern from continuing CPR but he wouldn’t listen to anyone.

Bruce had feared he was too late when he arrived on the scene. But with his own insistence, the doctor allowed the intern to continue. The surgeon apologized for not having stopped the intern sooner. The surgeon didn’t think the girl’s mind would recover from the ordeal. Bruce decided he’d keep an eye on her from his home once she no longer needed to be hooked up to all the machines. She’d been out of it for a few days at the hospital. Almost catatonic. This was the first time she was talking. Bruce thought the change of atmosphere had something to do with it. But he began to have an inkling that something else may be the reason for the change due to what Hailey was saying.

“This is so weird,” she said quietly, almost to herself, as she gestured to her body. She stood up from the bed to get a better look. “How old would you say I am?”

“I thought it wasn’t polite to guess a lady’s age,” a younger voice said from the doorway. He looked over at Bruce. “I heard you all talking. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all—“

“Dick Grayson?” Hailey said looking at him in awe.

“Do we know each other?” Dick asked curiously.

“No,” Hailey said with a small shake and smiled at him. “You’re so much better looking in real life than in pictures.”

“Oh, well,” Dick said with a small crooked smile. He wasn't often in the papers but when he was he’d be standing next to Bruce for certain Wayne Entreprises events. They were usually black and white. Or bright colored print. Not exactly flattering. “Thanks?”

Hailey simply smiled wider. But when she did, Bruce felt a twinge of familiarity deep down. That smile was eerily familiar. Bruce had known the girl’s sister. Briefly. But even sisters didn’t behave so similarly.

“How are you feeling? You’re in better spirits than I thought you would be considering,” Dick said as he walked up to her. But Bruce took hold of his arm before he could pass him up.

“Huh? Is something wrong?”

“Who are you?” Bruce said looking directly at the young woman. His voice was suddenly stern. No longer the friendly tone he’d been using before.

She looked at him in alarm and flinched back.

“Hey, now, it’s okay,” Dick said with his arms outstretched to her as if he could catch her. He looked over at Bruce with some concern before looking back at the young woman. “We’re not going to hurt you.”

“No. I know,” Hailey said and reached her hand back towards the nightstand for something solid to hold on to. She knocked over the dishes and they shattered on the floor. She realized what she did and in her haste to clean up her mess, she stepped on the broken pieces with her bare feet. “Ow, fuck.”

Dick removed Bruce’s hold on him and rushed over to the girl. He scooped her up before she could hurt herself any more than she already had. He placed her on the bed and lifted her foot to examine the damage.

“I’ll get the first aid kit,” said Alfred.

Dick was carefully removing the pieces that had embedded into the sole of her foot.

Hailey hissed at the pain and looked over at Bruce who was still watching her with calculating eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Hailey told him sincerely. “But I can’t answer your question.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t know how to answer it without being sent to a looney bin,” Hailey said and hissed again.

“Sorry, almost done,” said Dick just as Alfred returned with the first-aid kit and took over.

“What do you mean?” Bruce said ignoring the other two.

Hailey shook her head. “I don’t think you’ll believe me. I still don’t believe it myself.”

“It’s always best to start at the beginning,” offered Alfred while he cleaned her cuts with rubbing alcohol. She gritted her teeth and hissed once more. “You have a high tolerance for pain. Most young women your age would be screaming and crying right about now”

“Yeah, well, pain,” Hailey said and looked down at her lap. “It comes with the territory.”

“Hey, we can help you. You don’t need to worry about that anymore,” Dick said trying to offer her some solace.

“That’s easy for you to say,” Hailey told him. “But I’m sure even Batman would agree with me when I say that pain and suffering is just an unavoidable part of life.” She turned to look at Bruce when she said that. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Hhn,” Bruce said looking at her curiously.

“We need to talk,” Hailey told him.

“Yes, we do,” Bruce said and looked at Alfred. “Leave it, for now, Alfred.”

“Very well, sir,” Alfred said putting down the bandages he was about to place on her foot. “Miss Thomas.”

“Thank you, Alfred,” Hailey told him sincerely.

“You’re welcome, Miss Thomas,” he said and walked out the door.

“Dick, if you don’t mind.”

“But,” he said. He looked at the girl then back at Bruce. “I can help, Bruce.”

“You wouldn’t understand, Dick,” Hailey said in a placating tone while looking at her hands.

“Right,” Dick said with a little too much bite but he wasn’t angry just frustrated. Even this stranger was sending him away, it wasn’t just Bruce who didn’t think he could be of any assistance. He’d been feeling that way as of late whenever Bruce pushed him away. But that had nothing to do with the young woman. And he turned away in resignation.

She looked up and gave him a sympathetic smile that he didn’t see.

“Honestly, he’s the only one who could, boy wonder.”

Dick froze. Had he just heard what he thought he heard? He spun around to look at her.

“Wha—?”

“Dick,” Bruce said placing a hand on his shoulder. “Give us a moment. I’ll fill you in later.”

They both looked at Hailey and she nodded. She wouldn’t mind if Dick knew. But there were a few things she had to say to Batman alone. Especially after what had happened between them before she died the last time.

Once they were alone, Bruce turned to look at her expectantly.

“I don’t know much about what is happening to me. I just know where it began. Honestly, if I could, I’d go right back to where I came from and I wouldn’t have taken that flight.”

“The flight you mentioned that Superman saved you from.”

“Yes, but...” Hailey said and sighed.

She told Bruce what she remembered about the flight. How she was going back home to her family from New York. But that during the incident something odd had happened. It was as if she was switched from her world to theirs. The one where Batman and Superman existed. She told him that they were nothing but fiction in her own world. But that she didn’t know how the switch took place. One moment she was in her thirty-year-old body and the next, she was an old grandma. A very young Superman had saved her and the other passengers. However, she died anyway and came back to life in a Gotham City funeral home. She knew that she was in a younger body but was still an old woman. She told him that every time she died she was younger when she came back to life. She had no way of knowing how much time had passed between the time she died and the time she came back, but when she did, it was always in a different part of Gotham and in a different body. In each life, she tried to learn as much as she could about the city hoping to cross paths with Batman. It just never panned out. Especially since he wasn’t around in the beginning, her first few lives in Gotham. Until very recently. She knew he would be the only one who would believe her. But when she finally got the chance to talk to him, she died before she could tell him what was happening to her.

They stayed quiet for a moment. Bruce taking in everything she’d said. And Hailey hoping he’d believe her.

“You mentioned before that you made appointments to meet with me. Why would you look for _me_ specifically?”

“I didn’t know who else to turn to,” Hailey said and blew out a strained breath. “You’re not only rich and powerful but also a humanitarian. You care about the people in Gotham. Otherwise, you wouldn’t go out of your way to have so many charities all over town. Besides, who else would actually listen to me without deciding right away that I was crazy? I can only imagine someone like you has seen a thing or two and maybe...you could help me stop whatever is happening to me? Or at the very least you could help me, I don’t know, endure this nightmare? Because seriously, how old am I going to be the next time I come back? And when will I _finally_ stay dead?”

“You want to die,” Bruce said matter-of-factly.

“And you wouldn’t?!” Though what he’d said was in a monotone voice, she heard the judgment that was implied. “You think it’s fun to be in a completely different world than where I’m supposed to be! Away from a family I don’t remember! Away from a child whose face I can no longer picture! Or worse yet, having to keep coming back to life just to suffer again and again! And each time remembering just enough experiences from the host’s mind to drive me insane! I’ve been tortured enough!”

“Enough, Hailey,” Bruce said sternly. She was getting too worked up and her health couldn’t take the strain.

She took a breath and then started to sob.

Bruce stood there looking at her with sympathetic eyes. He knew it was best to stay silent. Sometimes it was all anyone could do to help someone else in this type of situation. Because any words of solace he could offer would fall short here. He could tell she had been through a lot. But there was no way he could say he understood what she’d gone through. Even though she’d said that he was the only one who could. It simply wasn’t possible. Hearing her cry though, it was painful for him. He took a step closer to her wanting to reach out to place a hand on her shoulder at the very least. But before he could, she slapped herself using both hands on either side of her face.

“Stop it!” Hailey said to herself. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself!”

Bruce looked on in alarm and then he finally did come close enough where he could reach a hand towards her. But instead of touching her, he sat beside her quietly. She wanted to regain her own composure. This young woman, whoever she was, was very strong.

She took a deep breath and wiped her face.

“Sorry that you had to see that,” Hailey said in a soft voice and averting her eyes.

“You may not have realized this yet, but you are strong,” Bruce told her. She scoffed. But he placed a hand over hers and only then noticed how small it was. “You are.”

His touch offered her some comfort. But it also made her feel guilty.

“You won’t think that after I tell you everything I’ve done.”

Bruce looked at her and nodded.

“Maybe you’re right,” he said but then gripped her hand a little tighter to make her look at him. “But then again, you could be wrong.”

“I may be projecting,” she said with a crooked smile. “But I think you’ll want to send me away anyway.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Bruce told her and she nodded. “I do have to admit that I’ve never heard of anything like this before. But that doesn’t mean I won’t try to help you.”

“You just need to hear it all.”

“Yes.”

“I can’t remember all the details. But I’ll tell you what I can.”

He nodded at her. But then he stood up and walked to the door.

“Why don’t you get a little more rest. I’ll come back to see you later,” Bruce said.

“Yes, of course,” Hailey said and held out her hand.

“What is it?”

“If you give me a recording device,” she said with a sad smile. “It’ll make things easier.”

“For you?”

“For the both of us,” she said and looked at her lap. “Believe me, it won’t just be hard for me to say. It will be hard for you to listen and not want to…”

“Alright,” Bruce said and threw a small device he had in his pocket to her.

He had already been recording what she’d said but not with the device he gave her. The entire room was monitored. And he was only giving her some space so that he could investigate what she’d said so far. She sounded sincere but that didn’t mean she wasn’t lying. She was very intelligent. And she could be working for someone else. He couldn’t help think that he’d been bamboozled into bringing her into his home. He had to play things safe. Make her think she had his trust. At least, a little of it. Because she already knew that he was wary of her. But that was okay. He could work with that. It was Dick that he had to convince to be careful of her. He already knew that Alfred would keep a healthy distance from her.

“But get some rest first,” he told her.

She shook her head.

“I better not. I don’t know how long it will take for me to forget my former lives. I already forgot the original. I only remember the plane and why I was on it. That I had a family and a child to return to. But I don’t remember my name or any other details about my life. Not even my child’s name or gender. And every life I’ve lived since I got here, doesn’t last very long.”

Bruce nodded but didn’t say anything. He simply walked out. When he went through the hallway, he saw Dick standing there with his arms crossed.

“How much did you hear?” Bruce asked him.

“Just enough to make me more curious,” Dick said and looked at the door Bruce had come out of. “Is she dangerous?”

“To us?” Bruce said and shook his head. “I don’t know yet. To herself? I believe she is.”

“Do you believe her?”

“I think she believes what she says,” Bruce said and began to walk away.

“But she said she comes back to life? How does that work?” Dick said walking fast enough to keep pace with Bruce.

“I don’t know,” Bruce said and opened the clock doorway to head into the cave. “But there is something that I can confirm.”

“What is that?”

“I’ve met her before,” Bruce said and looked at back at Dick as they made their way downstairs. “While she was in a different body.”

Dick looked at him questionably. But didn’t comment.

Bruce began to listen to the recording of what she’d told them when she woke up. He looked through Metropolis newspaper archives for any stories related to a plane incident and Superman. He couldn’t find what Hailey had mentioned. But then he decided to look further back near Smallville. And he found what he was looking for. In a rural county, a journalist posted a story similar to what Hailey had mentioned. It included a photo of a couple who was distraught over a ninety-four-year-old woman who was being taken by a paramedic. The older woman hadn’t sustained any injuries during the plane incident. Her health had taken a turn for the worse when she saw the mysterious superhuman teenager who had saved them from their imminent death.

“Patricia Josefine Todd died at the age of 94,” Dick read from a Gotham obituary that Bruce had uncovered. It was the same woman from the plane. She had been transported to Gotham where her daughter lived for funeral arrangements. “Was born October 11, 1908...survived by her children, Aprilyn Gallaugher, and Robert A. Todd; her beloved grandson, Willis Todd; nieces and nephew, Wanda Ohashi, Betty Gadd, June Bold, Darlene Paule, and Samuel Kidd; three sisters, Allis Emelie Fiucci, Ferne Marie Rosser and Winifred Beatrice Pennell; and sister-in-law, Emily Mae Kidd.”

“Her sister, Allis, went missing for about a year,” Bruce said as he magnified an article. “She was later found dead in a retirement home.”

“According to initial police reports, she tried to save a woman who was about to be raped by an orderly,” Dick said as he continued to read the report. “The alleged perpetrator was never convicted. The woman he tried to abuse couldn’t testify during the trial. She had dementia. So her original statement was ignored. The orderly was adamant that he’d acted in self-defense. Allis wasn’t even a resident of the retirement home. When her children found out what had happened and what the defense attorney told them, they decided not to press charges. The prosecution had no choice but to close the case.”

“They were socialites. Far more concerned with hearsay than the need for justice.”

“Look, Bruce,” Dick said magnifying another news article. “Most of the women mentioned in Patricia’s obituary have also gone missing after a death occurs in the family. It’s believed to be some sort of family curse. A psychotic break that makes them forget who they are. Some of them were never found again. Police said they were looking into the incidents but the reporter said they chalked up the entire thing to mental illness.”

“And it looks like the curse continued long after that article was printed,” Bruce said. “The latest victim from Patricia’s family is seventeen-year-old Yvette Paule.”

“You mean the girl upstairs?”

“Yes. But according to her, her name is Hailey Thomas. Yvette died and Hailey’s soul is using that body as its host.”

“But how’s that possible? Why does she believe she died?”

“Because she did. They both did,” Bruce told him. “After her heart transplant, Yvette was clinically dead for ten minutes before she was revived. From what Hailey has said so far, it’s possible that her soul enters a body only after the person who’d previously occupied it dies.”

“If I’m following this line of thought correctly, Hailey died previously and was just an errant soul until Yvette died and she took over her body?”

“Yes. Yvette’s sister Molly died three months prior to Yvette’s death. I met Molly the night she died. That’s why I said I’d met Hailey before. She was in Molly’s body,” Bruce said and pinched the bridge of his nose. “She told me she had a sister. But that she couldn’t remember her name. That she was supposed to pay for her medical bills. And she gave me all the money she’d saved up. Told me to get it to her. It was her dying wish. By the time I found her sister, she’d almost died as well. But it seems I was too late to save her regardless.”

Dick looked at Bruce sideways. He didn’t want to say anything. But he had wondered why Bruce had taken such an interest in a dead prostitute. All Bruce had told him was that the girl took on that life so that she could pay for her sister’s medical bills. And Bruce was dead set in finding her sister so that he could help her any way he could.

“That’s why you’ve had me looking into her life. I was confused since it wasn’t about a case. The girl died of heart failure, right?”

Bruce nodded but he had a guilty look on his face.

“That’s not something you could’ve saved her from. Why’re you beating yourself about it anyway? If you believe the girl upstairs, she’s the same one. She’s still alive.”

Bruce realized right then that this had to be an act of magic or some other mystical feat. Bruce had no reason not to believe the girl upstairs. Someone was not only switching her soul from body to body but was also using the women in the Todd family tree to do so. Bruce quickly looked up more information on the women in the obituary. He found out that there were three females that were still alive from Patricia’s bloodline. Angelina Kidd, Winona Bold, and Helena Gadd. All three of them currently lived in Gotham. 

“Bruce, where are you going?” Dick asked when the man suddenly stood up and began to make his way upstairs.

“There’s something I need Alfred to arrange. Meanwhile,” Bruce said turning back to look at Dick. “I need you to keep an eye on Hailey.”

Dick nodded but then sighed heavily. There was something that Bruce wasn’t saying. And it had nothing to do with the girl upstairs. She had three living relatives. Three girls. And they were all younger than Hailey. Would they all end up dying and taken over by Hailey?


	2. Chapter One

There was a young girl of about six years of age laying in the snow without any knowledge of what she was doing there. She felt numb and alone. She could hear sirens in the background along with a lot of chatter. But the voices and noise sounded far away. A white bunny came up to her and began to dig around her. It began to chew some roots it uncovered and hadn’t even noticed the young girl because she was completely still. She closed her eyes for a moment and took in a breath. It was labored and harsh and the sudden noise scared the bunny away.

Then the girl heard what sounded like dogs. They were whimpering and scratching at the ground. But they were nowhere near where she was. They were with the crowd of people quite a distance away. That made her nervous. Her fingers twitched and she began to cough. It was then that the young girl realized that she didn’t know who she was or where she was. She had no memories at all. She was just an empty shell. She turned her head slightly to the left and right. It looked like she was in some sort of ditch. There was snow all around her but she could see branches and the sky up above. 

Why was she in the snow? What was going on? Why was she alone?

She felt a feeling of panic rise from her gut and she began to breathe faster. She couldn’t really move and that scared her even more. So she did the only thing she could think to do, she began to scream. She could hear herself scream and she wanted to stop the noise. But she couldn’t. Some part of her told her that she needed to stop that it wasn’t any help. But she couldn’t control the reflex. It was as if her vocal cords had a mind of their own. And the panic within her seemed to grow even more.

Suddenly she heard feet running towards her. A dog reached her first. He began to sniff all around her and began to jump and bark. Though she could barely hear the dog on top of her own screams. She saw a face come near hers. And a small hand pressed down on her shoulder.

“Hey, hey!” the young boy said sort of frantically. “It’s okay, help is coming.”

She looked at him but she couldn’t stop screaming.

“What is it?” he said his voice firmer and then began to look her over. He said something to the dog and looked at the girl again. He held her gaze with his own. “Are you hurting?”

But she didn’t answer. She couldn’t. She held his gaze as she continued to wail. But she told herself to stop. 

_Stop it._

“Why are you screaming?” he asked. He looked her over again but didn’t see anything that could cause her pain. 

_Now!_

She stopped. But her mouth stayed open. It was as if her vocal cords just ran out of sound. But it was her sheer will that had helped her to stop the incessant noise. It wasn’t helping at all. She’d known it from the moment it started. But she’d started screaming on reflex and couldn’t stop. If it wasn’t for the boy and something deep down in her, it probably would’ve gone on forever until she’d gone right mad.

He smiled at her when he noticed that she calmed down. 

“I heard you so I came over here as fast as I could. I’m not alone, okay? There are other people looking for you. But my dad made me wait by the side of the road. It’s good that I was there because you were on the other side where everyone was looking.”

He didn’t really know why he was telling her all of that. He was just glad that she wasn’t screaming anymore. But he wasn’t sure if she understood anything he’d said. She looked more confused than he felt.

“Who are you?” she said slowly and then coughed due to how raw her throat felt.

“My name is Robin,” he said with a smile. “What’s your name?”

“I…” she closed her eyes in thought and then opened them up again to look at the boy. She was completely certain that she had a name. And that name was… “H-hailey.”

“Hailey,” he said with a small smile. “Do you hear that?” He looked up and called out. “They’re coming. My dad and the others.”

“Why am I here?” she said slowly and closed her eyes. A tear ran down her face.

“There was like a big crash. A lot of people were hurt,” the boy said and looked down and away. 

“John! John!”

”Over here, dad! I found her! I found the girl! She’s alive!”

* * *

** _Five years later…_ **

“… What is your emergency?”

“Um, there’s a man,” Hailey said into the receiver in a whisper. “He-he has a gun. I think he’s going to kill my dad. You have to hurry.”

“Okay, sweetie, can you tell me where you live?”

“Um, please hurry…he’s very angry,” she said in a harsh whisper. Then remembered she was supposed to give her location. “325 that’s the house number. It’s on Tally Road next to the railroad, you know? Can you hurry?”

The operator repeated the address and asked her name. 

“I’m Hailey. And Lynn is here too. But she doesn’t look scared and the man isn’t even looking at her. He just keeps waving the gun at my dad. He asked for money. And my dad went to get it. But he’s going to kill him. Please. Please. Please hurry!”

Hailey had the cordless phone in her hands and was behind the desk. She could clearly see into the entrance and part of the living room where her dad and Lynn, her stepmother, and the man who’d forced his way into the house where crowded. When she first heard the argument ensue, she’d thought it was just her dad and stepmom arguing again. But then she heard a voice she didn’t recognize and a desperate threat. She sprung into action, slowly making her way into her dad’s study and grabbing the phone off the desk. Her dad had seen her when he entered to get the money the other man was asking for and he lifted a hand to his lips so that she knew to keep quiet. She nodded but showed him the phone. Her dad made a motion with his hands so that she would keep her voice down and told her in a very quiet voice to count to ten before she called. She only waited until he was out of the study and the other man was shouting again before she dialed.

A gunshot was heard in the background. Hailey whimpered. 

“Hailey, sweetheart, can you tell me what happened?”

“He shot my dad!” she said louder than she intended to but her dad had just been shot. “Please hurry before he dies!”

“The police is almost there and an ambulance is on the way. But can you tell me what the man is doing?”

“He-He saw me. He’s pointing the gun at me.”

Hailey began to whimper and didn’t look away from the man. He looked like he was arguing with Lynn. And she was saying something back. Hailey looked over to her dad. He had fallen back into a seated position and she couldn’t tell if he was dead or alive. He was half-hidden by the sofa. He was so still. And the world had gone silent. She shut her eyes tight and breathed and then she heard the operator calling out to her. Hailey didn’t answer. Her attention went back to the man with the gun.

“—kill her,” Lynn said. 

“She’s just a kid,” said the man. 

That was all the operator heard of the exchange since the two people talking in the background sounded too far away. But she couldn’t try to make sense of it. She just needed to know that the girl was not in danger. 

“Hailey, are you safe, honey? Police are only a couple minutes ou—“

Another shot was heard before the operator could finish her sentence. 

Hailey dropped the receiver. She was startled by the sudden appearance of a dark mass that blocked her view. Everything happened so fast. And she hadn’t been shot. As a matter of fact, the man hadn’t been aiming at her when he fired the gun. He must’ve seen this black thing and aimed at it because she was perfectly fine. Then she felt a hand on her arm. She looked to her side at a smiling face. A boy who was a little older than she was happened to be there wearing a black mask over his eyes. She could see his blue eyes. And she almost screamed but he tugged on her arm lifting her off the ground and carried her outside through the window before she could make sense of what happened. 

“You’re safe now,” he said with a grin. “Don’t worry. That asshole won’t get away.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Robin,” he said proudly. 

Hailey’s eyes widened. She’d heard that name before. The boy who had saved her from the snow. Except that boy had had brown eyes and this one had blue eyes. 

“You’re not the same Robin who saved me before, are you?” she questioned just as the police pulled up. 

“Probably not,” he said with a shrug. Then he looked away from her placing a finger to his ear. “Batman, she’s safe. The police finally arrived, I’m going— What? Why?”

Robin looked at Hailey then shrugged. 

“You like bikes?” Robin asked. 

“What?” she said in confusion. 

“Come on,” he told her grabbing hold of her hand and pulling her as he ran. He lifted her onto a red motorcycle with a huge letter R on the side. Then he climbed on in front of her. “Hold on.”

“But what about my dad?” Hailey said looking back at the mess of police and the ambulance that had finally arrived. 

“Sorry, Batman didn’t say. But I’m supposed to take you somewhere. Don’t worry though, you’ll be safe.”

Hailey felt her body sag and her forehead fell on Robin’s shoulder. She couldn’t help feeling that regardless of whether or not she was safe, she would never see her dad again. A tear slid down her cheek then another until she was crying. 

“Oh, damn,” Robin said and sighed. “I’m really sorry. Just please don’t let go.” Hailey’s arms tightened around Robin’s waist. “Good, girl. We’re almost there.”

They pulled up to Wayne Manor and Robin helped Hailey off the bike. She had stopped crying and was just allowing herself to go through the motions. She didn’t notice the sympathetic gaze that the man at the door cast her. Nor the sad look on Robin’s eyes as he handed Hailey over to the other man. Nor did she hear a word anyone said. 

Before she knew it, she was sitting on a sofa with a glass of water in her hands. There was a social worker talking to her. All Hailey did was nod. But she hadn’t heard a single word. Next thing she knew was that she was led to a bedroom. She crawled into the bed and curled into a fetal position. She wasn’t going to fall asleep. She wasn’t exactly tired. She just felt numb. Maybe it was shock. Maybe she was scared. Or maybe she was completely aware that her entire world had changed. And that she would never see her dad again. 


	3. Chapter Two

Life in the manor was odd to Hailey. She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to act. Where she could or couldn’t go. She remembered following Alfred around the place a few days after she arrived but she didn’t hear a single word he said. The place was huge but Hailey only knew her way to and from the kitchen and her room. Jason chatted with her a lot at breakfast but Hailey didn’t participate in the conversations. The world just seemed to buzz with electricity in her ears. She never felt anything. Not hungry. Not tired. Not sad. Nothing at all until she went to the funeral. When she saw Mrs. Saurez—her previous neighbor and occasional babysitter—and the older women hugged her that was the first time the world around her made any sense.

Bruce had been holding her hand but Hailey let go when she saw Mrs. Saurez. She hugged her very tight and cried and cried. It was the first time she realized that her dad was truly dead. Mrs. Saurez managed to calm her down and together they walked up to the casket where Hailey saw her dad for the last time and said goodbye. 

Mrs. Saurez along with a few other people that had known her dad had gone to the manor after the burial but they left soon after. Hailey had fallen asleep behind the sofa where she’d been hiding. She didn’t want to talk to anyone. Jason sat next to her but he didn’t say anything. He only kept her company until she fell asleep.

When Hailey woke up the following morning, she was in her room. She just lay there until Bruce came into the room to talk to her. He told her about school and asked how much longer she wanted to wait. She said she didn’t want to wait, but he told her to take another week. Hailey nodded and he left her alone so that she could get ready. She showered and dressed just as he asked her to so that they could meet with the social worker downstairs after breakfast. Hailey heard everything the woman said and answered whatever it was that the woman wanted to hear. Or what Hailey assumed the woman wanted to hear. Then she had to speak to a police officer.

The conversation about the night her dad died made her stomach hurt. She answered all his questions without protest and an odd sense of detachment. When he asked her about speaking in court, Bruce said he wouldn’t allow her to do that. Hailey looked at Bruce curiously but when the police officer agreed it was for the best, Hailey decided not to dwell on the matter. She didn’t really care what happened to the man who killed her dad. 

“He’s not coming back anyway so it doesn’t matter,” Hailey said softly with tears slowly making their way down her face and then ran back to her room.

Bruce didn’t go look for her. And she stayed in her room until the next day when Jason woke her up for breakfast.

“I’m sorry,” Hailey said when she saw Bruce at the breakfast table.

He looked at her with his eyebrows raised. “What are you apologizing for?”

“I was rude to you and the policeman yesterday,” she said looking at her shoes.

“No, you were not,” Bruce said sternly. “What you said was perfectly fine.”

“Even though I ran off?” she said looking at him curiously. She didn’t want him to be upset with her.

“There was nothing wrong with that either,” Bruce told her and gave her a small smile. Hailey nodded and took a seat adjacent to Bruce’s.

“Okay,” she said and smiled back. A small tenous smile but it was there all the same.

It was the first sign of her moving forward since she’d arrived at the manor. Hailey kept up the pretense of nothing being wrong around the Bruce. But Jason could see that she was faking it. She spoke just enough and only came down for meals. Otherwise, she was holed up in her room. He could tell that she wasn’t happy. But he didn’t know what to do about it.

Hailey was pleased that the buzzing in her ears had stopped. That she was able to hear what people were saying. And that she could act according to what was expected. The last thing she wanted was to be sent away. Living in the manor was better than living with Lynn. Though she didn’t know that Lynn was taken into custody for conspiring the murder of her husband with his killer. Hailey had assumed that Lynn had given her away because the woman had made it a point for Hailey to know that she didn’t like her. Even went as far as to tell her that if it hadn’t been for Jasper, her dad, she would’ve been sent away to an orphanage. So she felt very lucky to be living in the manor. Even though it was scary and huge and lonely. It was better than living with Lynn or with people who hated kids. Because Lynn had told her that orphanages were run by people who hated kids and beat them whenever they were bad. 

Of all the changes that had come about in Hailey’s life abruptly, the private school had been the most daunting. Her classmates had to know that she could hear them, right? And the things they said as she passed by them...it made her shiver. The teachers, the classrooms, and everything other than her classmates was a dull background. Colorless. Lifeless. Surreal. But her classmates loomed over her. She felt like she was in a thick forest with no way out. Their chatter suffocated her like the air of a hot humid day. 

_“Did you hear? Bruce Wayne is her legal guardian—”_

_“Man, she has a daddy-bucks—”_

_“She's in that house with those good looking men—”_

_“Jason has to sleep near that—”_

_“You think she could get me a shot of Dick Grayson coming out of the shower—?”_

_“I want a shot of her com—”_

_“You’re a freak—”_

_“Not my fault she’s got a decent—”_

_“She’s kind of weird—”_

_“Pretty, sort of—”_

_“Ew, she’s plain—”_

_“I said sort of—!”_

_“She’s too quiet—”_

_“Hasn’t said two words since her first day—”_

_“Maybe she’s mute—”_

_“She’s probably foreign—”_

_“A mail-in bride?”_

_“For his son?”_

_“Wayne can get any woman he wants.”_

_“Or man—”_

_“Man, I wish my parents were dead—”_

_“Adopted by a billionaire—”_

_“Lucky girl—”_

_“Stuck-up bitch—”_

_“Fake-ass—”_

_“Street trash—”_

_“She can hear—”_

_“Whatever—”_

She was a novelty. And novelties always wore out. She couldn’t help but think that Jason heard what their classmates said about her. About him. And most definitely about Bruce. At least they weren’t claiming that Bruce wanted her _that_ way. Gross. He was seen in enough papers with actresses and models and any woman over the age of twenty who was beautiful. And Hailey, she was still a kid. And they never saw her with him. And if they were in the same room, it was Jason who stood closest to Hailey. Except at school. Maybe he _was_ embarrassed by her. 

They rode to school together, thanks to Alfred. But once they arrived, Jason didn’t bother looking her way. Not to mention the fact that they were in separate buildings. Hailey was in fifth grade after all. And Jason was a sophomore. The private school, lucky for her, had the fifth grade as part of middle school. The elementary school was a separate school altogether. But the junior high and high school buildings shared a common area where the lockers were located. Hailey’s happened to be next to Jason’s since the Waynes owned their own section in the locker room. Four tall lockers separated from all the others with the Wayne family nameplate. And yet, Jason pretended she didn’t exist. He grabbed his things and walked away without a word or even a glance in her direction. Hailey didn’t take it as a slight. If anything, she was too embarrassed about the situation itself to care whether or not Jason acknowledged her during the menial task of gathering her books for morning classes. 

The teachers and assignments weren’t much different from her previous school and even though she missed almost a month of school, Hailey was able to get caught up fairly quickly. She had always been a fast learner and had a good memory. Bruce seemed to be happy that she was doing well in school so she never mentioned how the kids treated her. She hadn’t made any friends at all. But that was fine with her. She didn’t need any. She preferred to be alone since she didn’t feel like talking to anyone. Not even the therapist the social worker recommended.

As a matter of fact, she didn’t speak during her sessions with the therapist outside of answering that she was fine and that she liked living in the manor with Bruce and Jason and Alfred. She even told her therapist that she liked her new school. But she never went into details about any of it. If the therapist tried to get more information out of her, Hailey tightened her lips and refused to speak. She didn’t talk about Lynn. She didn’t talk about her dad. And especially not about the night he died. Instead, she drew. And the therapist was perfectly content with that. Or she had to be. Though neither Hailey nor the therapist knew that what she drew during her session was her first memory in which she was saved from a snowy death by a boy named Robin.

* * *

“Do you believe she remembers, sir?” Alfred asked Bruce while he was handing him a cup of tea down in the Batcave. 

“No,” Bruce said while still researching a company for a recent case. “It’s been five years. In that time, she never showed any recognition of anybody from her previous lives.”

“I hope it remains that way,” Alfred said and sighed. “I would hate for any of us to be forced to witness any recurrence of past inclinations.”

“Hnh.”

Bruce didn’t want to comment on what had happened the last time Hailey had been under his roof. She had decided to give Bruce an account of all her previous lives but having to remember all the horrors of her past lives was too much for her mentally and emotionally. Bruce could have never guessed the guilt she felt over accidentally causing the deaths of a few people whose lives she’d interjected herself into for the sake of survival. She felt like she was a walking time bomb of disastrous events. But Bruce had been too late to figure out that she was on an emotional brink that they wouldn’t be able to bring her back from before letting her know that everything that she’d experienced was more or less her being in the wrong place at the wrong time though mostly being right where she needed to be. She saved more people than those who died in her wake. 

It was Dick that tried to literally talk her off the ledge. But Hailey was too fast and smart to have her suicide thwarted by anyone even the boy wonder. And having to watch her fall to her death before his eyes triggered Dick’s past trauma of having witnessed his parents death. 

When Hailey returned into another body, she walked in front of a bus. She survived the accident in critical condition and asked the policewoman who was questioning her actions for a one on one with Batman. He arrived in the hospital without anyone taking notice and Hailey begged him to erase her memories. Batman complied seeing that she would continue to hurt herself if she had to continue to live and die with all the memories of previous lives. He contacted Zatanna and asked her to perform a spell that would help her. He then told Hailey that Zatanna wouldn’t do anything until she talked to Dick. Hailey complied and apologized to Dick profusely for what she had done. She explained to him that she had horrible nightmares of her past lives and that she had too much information about the past and the future to keep her from ever having a normal life. Dick said he understood and stayed at her side while Zatanna placed a spell on the girl.

After her memories were erased she breathed a sigh of relief because a metaphorical weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She felt at peace for the first time in as many lives and died with a content look on her face. It seemed that it was only sheer will that was keeping her alive. Because even the doctors had no idea how she’d survived not only being hit by a bus but being dragged along for close to two blocks. 

Batman who was aware that there was only one living female member of Patricia Todd’s family line left alive kept an eye on the little girl's situation. And after a tragic accident with over a ten-car pileup on the highway, the young Helena Gadd had become an orphan and went missing. Only to be found close to three days later buried in the snow without any memories except the knowledge of her own name. Hailey Thomas. The psychiatrist on call who knew the girl's real name chose to allow her to hold on to the only semblance of memory—no matter how false—she had by having her name changed on her records. Hailey's biological father, Jasper Collins, took the psychiatrists advice and never spoke to the girl of the accident that had taken her family since she couldn't remember anything about her life prior to being found. He went so far as to tell her that he'd adopted her to maintain the facade. His daughter was only six years old after all and hadn't known prior to the accident that the man who'd raised her so far was not her real father. Hailey's life began with a fresh start and a new name.

It wasn’t a coincidence that at as soon as Batman heard about the girl over police frequency that he dropped everything to go save her. He arrived too late to save her dad but he saved the girl’s life. And he decided to take her under his roof hoping that it would be for the best. However, he was absolutely certain that even though she seemed comfortable in the manor with him and the others that she had no recollection of ever being at the property or around him and Alfred before. That took a weight off his shoulders in regards to the girl. He knew it was for the best not to burden her with his mission. He even warned Jason that he had to keep his Robin persona and his civilian identity completely separate in front of Hailey. Jason thought the rule was stupid but agreed to keep the secret from his new sort-of sister to ensure he wasn’t benched as Robin. 

However, Jason wouldn’t keep Hailey from figuring out on her own. Not to mention, he had to do something to break the girl out of her goody-goody act. There was more to Hailey Thomas than polite words and constant acquiescence toward Bruce and Alfred. And he was just the person to make her show her true colors. 


	4. Chapter Three

Hailey woke with a start. She sat up and felt something wet, cold, and slimy slide down her neck into her top. She ran shaky fingers over the area and came away with green slime. She gritted her teeth and after taking a deep breath, shouted, “Jason Peter Todd, I’m going to kill you!”

“Oh, dear,” said Alfred as he poured Bruce a cup of coffee. They were downstairs in the kitchen. Bruce was seated at the breakfast table while reading his newspaper. Alfred standing beside him with a coffee pot refilling his master's cup. “Sounds like the children are up and about.”

They heard the sound of feet trampling through the house. Jason’s laugh was echoing in the hallways. 

Bruce simply took a sip of his coffee. But behind the rim of the coffee cup, he smiled. He may have been an only child but he would happily take the raucous sounds of children over the silence the manor greeted him with every day after his parents died. He would rather Hailey and Jason get along better but this was just fine as well. It had been three months since Hailey's arrival and it had seemed like an easy transition until Jason decided he needed to break his new sister into the family the only way he knew how. Bruce hadn't reprimanded him. He was actually proud of the boy. He'd helped Hailey break out of her shell at least with him. She still had her guard up against Alfred and himself but he figured she just needed more time to get used to being around different adults.

“I know where you sleep, Jason!” Hailey said from the bottom of the staircase. She was breathing hard and made her way back to her room all the while stomping her feet. 

Jason had run out the front door. He found another way into the kitchen. Through the window.

“She’s getting faster,” Jason said with a wide grin. “But she’s got a long way to go before she catches me.”

“I’d prefer you let Miss Hailey be,” Alfred said giving Jason a mild frown. “She’s bound to think the worst of us.”

“Nah,” Jason said with a small shake of his head. “She’s too quiet. And she needs to learn how to have fun.”

“When she does finally manage to break your neck, you’ll get no pity from me, young man.”

“Harsh, Al. It’s all in good fun. So don’t worry so much,” Jason told him still smiling and rocking on his feet. 

Bruce put down the newspaper he’d been reading. Jason looked over at him having caught the movement. Bruce simply stared at the boy.

“What?” Jason said and crossed his arms over his chest.

“What did you do to her?” Bruce said wanting to sound stern but he was actually curious. He knew that whatever Jason had done was more than likely harmless. Bruce thought the same thing Jason did; she was too quiet. Polite. Agreeable. And that didn’t seem like a good thing.

Jason grinned. But he refrained from saying anything.

When Hailey walked into the kitchen, she sat down in the chair adjacent to Bruce like she always did. Quiet as ever. Not wanting to bring attention to herself.

“Good morning,” she said looking at Bruce who nodded at her and then brought his paper back up to continue reading. 

“Good morning, Miss Hailey,” Alfred said and Hailey smiled in his direction. “I assumed you worked up an appetite with your morning run.”

Alfred walked over to the refrigerator. Jason snickered as he went to the cupboard to grab some cereal.

“Sorry,” she said putting her head down feeling ashamed. 

Bruce looked at her a little worried.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” Bruce told her.

She snapped her head up looking in his direction. She looked confused. She had thought he was mad at her since he ignored her when she entered the room.

“Okay,” she said softly and then looked at the bowl Alfred placed before her. It was a mixture of a lot of things. Fruit and nuts. There was milk in it. And oats, maybe? “What is this?”

“Muesli,” Alfred said easily. “It’s a popular breakfast staple in Germany and Sweden.”

“I should get going,” Bruce said taking the last sip of his coffee. 

“Have a good day at work,” Hailey said shyly. Bruce smiled in her direction.

“Yeah, old man, go get ‘em!” Jason said with a smirk.

“I was planning to,” Bruce said easily and walked away. 

Alfred walked out of the kitchen following Bruce. She could hear them talking softly in the hallway.

Hailey picked up the spoon and swirled the contents around. It was risky but she took a small amount onto her spoon and took her first bite. She scrunched up her nose. It was a little sweet and overwhelming with the many different flavors and textures contending with one another. But it wasn’t so bad. Chewy and crunchy. But her lips began to tingle. She rubbed her lips with the tips of her fingers.

“Is it gross?” Jason asked as he plopped into the seat in front of her with a bowl of sugary cereal. 

“No.”

“It looks gross,” Jason said and took a big spoonful of his own food.

“You look gross,” Hailey said as she tentatively took another spoonful into her mouth.

Jason smirked at her but his mouth was currently full so he didn’t respond. Then he noticed her touching her lips again.

“It’s okay to say you don’t like it,” Jason said after he swallowed his mouthful and stood up. He walked around the table and made a reach for her bowl. But Hailey pulled it out of his reach. “Just give it here. I want to taste it.”

Hailey sighed and handed him the bowl. Jason took a small bite. Then a big one. Spoonful after spoonful. He didn’t stop until he finished it. Hailey simply looked on not knowing what to do.

“Hey, this was actually good.”

“Yeah, I _know_.”

“Oh,” Jason said giving her an apologetic look. He only ate the entire bowl so that she wouldn’t have to but he didn’t really like it so much. It was too late to go back now. “It didn’t seem like you liked it. You kept rubbing your lips.”

“They feel weird,” she said touched them again.

“Hey,” Jason said in a low voice bending down to peer at her closer. It looked like her lips were swelling. He reached up to touch them. They felt hot. “Maybe you should say something.”

“No,” Hailey said in a harsh whisper and shook her head. “Promise you won’t say anything.”

“Okay,” Jason said skeptically. He had an idea of why she was acting that way. She was scared that they’d get mad at her and make her go away and into the system. He’d had more time to build some rapport with Bruce and Alfred. Enough to trust them but not enough to completely be sure that they wouldn’t do the same to him as well. Her worries were becoming his own. “But they won’t get mad. Maybe—”

“You promised,” she whispered a little louder, desperation clear in her voice.

“I won't tell,” he said softly looking down and then began to stand up straight only to jump when he heard Alfred clearing his throat. “Oh, hey, Al!”

“Young man, what were you doing?” Alfred said taking in Hailey’s frightened expression. Jason looked a little nervous himself.

“Huh?!” Jason said and then looked back at Hailey who was now glaring at him for getting them caught in conspiring against the adults. “Nothing!”

“Miss Hailey?” Alfred asked her curiously.

“Uh,” she said and swallowed. She looked at Jason then back at her bowl. “He just wanted to taste it.”

“Taste what?” Alfred said with a frown in Jason’s direction.

Jason had the feeling he knew what it was that Alfred was thinking. And that was _so_ not what had just happened! She was just a kid! And he was fifteen! Gross!

“The mushi dish you gave her!” Jason said nervously and his voice squeaked. He cleared his throat and tried to relax. It was not helping his case to be nervous about nothing. He’d just been worried that Alfred had overheard their conversation but it seemed like they were in the clear. “It was good, Al. You have any more?”

“It’s called muesli,” Alfred said looking pointedly at the empty bowl. “And I’m sorry to inform you that I only made two servings since you adamantly expressed your dislike for oats last night.”

“Right,” Jason said with a nod and ran around the table to sit down so that he could finish his cereal. 

“I could always make more for tomorrow,” Alfred said.

“Uh,” Jason said his mouth half full of cereal. He forced himself to finish the mouthful. He looked over at Hailey who was now looking a bit alarmed. Her lips looked a little more swollen too. “No way! It wasn’t that good! How about pancakes?”

Hailey sighed.

“Pancakes. Very well,” Alfred said and removed the empty dishes from the table. Hailey made to help but he waved her away. “You need to get to school. The bus will arrive in ten minutes. Unless you need me to give you a ride. Turns out I have more time than I believed previously.”

“No, no,” Hailey said standing up quickly. “I’m good with riding the bus.”

“Jason, you need to run along as well,” Alfred said sternly.

“I’m already ready,” Jason said and slurped the milk out his bowl. “Do you mind making me some toast while I go get my backpack?”

Alfred sighed and made his way to the counter.

They both hurried to get their things and made it back to the door in time for Alfred to give Jason some toast with butter and jam. 

“Thanks, Al!”

“Have a good day, you two,” Alfred said as he slowly closed the door behind them.

  
Jason grinned and waved. When they’d made it a few steps away from the door, Jason took Hailey by the arm and whispered in her ear. 

“It’s for you. Sorry that I ate your food.”

“Thanks,” she said quietly but she was smiling widely at him.

She practically shoved one entire slice into her mouth. She was hungry. Jason chuckled and called her a chipmunk making Hailey swat at him but missed since he hopped out of her reach. Then they both ran down the driveway, Hailey chasing Jason to the bus stop. Almost choking on her toast.

Alfred frowned as he watched from the window but then just shook his head. He would never understand the youth of these days. One minute they were trying to kill each other, the next they were covering for one another. Alfred smiled. At least they were getting along just fine. 

Though the moment the two returned from school, Alfred was worried that Hailey really would kill Jason in his sleep one of these days.

“Jason, you’re such a jerk!” Hailey exclaimed as soon as she stepped into the house.

Jason had run into the house laughing. 

When Alfred peeked around the corner, Hailey was holding two backpacks while trying to juggle a diorama on her forearms.

“Let me help you with that, dear child,” Alfred said taking the diorama off her hands.

“Thank you,” she said gratefully and removed Jason’s backpack that had been slung around her shoulders on top of her own. It was heavy and she barely had the strength to carry it with both hands as she hugged it to her body.

“My word,” Alfred said as he looked at the construct. “Did you make this all on your own?”

“Yeah, it was for art class.”

“It’s quite detailed,” Alfred said taking it all in. There was a boy sitting up in a tree overlooking a lake. The background was layered and given depth. Even though all the paper that was used was white, to Alfred, it looked quite realistic. The girl had talent.

“It’s just cutouts that are strategically layered,” Hailey said shyly. She fidgetted her feet while looking down. “I have to go get my homework started.”

“Do you mind if I hold on to this?” Alfred said looking at her. “I’d like to show Master Bruce when he gets home.”

“Uh, sure,” Hailey said with a short nod. She had planned to place it on her nightstand but she could always make another one. She didn’t think Bruce would even see it or care to. It would probably end up in the trash before the end of the night. Bruce hardly made it home for dinner. And even Jason sometimes skipped out on dinner. Or at least, refrained from eating dinner with her at the time Alfred deemed was appropriate. 

“Dinner’s at six,” Alfred reminded her. 

“I could help—”

“Nonsense,” Alfred said and turned to walk away. “Your school work is more important.”

“Alright,” Hailey said softly. She didn’t understand why she couldn’t do any chores. All that did was give her more free time to do absolutely nothing.

Hailey slowly made her way up the stairs since she was carrying extra weight. What the hell did Jason keep in his backpack? Three hundred books? She decided that she would just drop it off at his door. He’d slung it over her shoulders before they walked into the house right after he told her he’d race her upstairs. He didn’t speak to her at all on the bus ride home and acted like he didn’t even know her at school. But once they were near the house, he acted like an immature five-year-old.

She knocked on Jason’s door and waited for a response. When none came, she left the backpack at the door. She walked over to her room with slow steps and a heavy sigh. She didn’t even have that much homework. Well, not enough to keep her busy until dinner. She looked around her room and settled at her desk. She decided to get her homework done first and then maybe go out into the garden. Her room was already clean and there was nothing for her to organize. The house had such a huge yard that she could get lost in her thoughts while she walked around. Maybe she could think about a new idea to write about. She had a few journals of stories she’d written. Though she was fairly certain that anyone who actually read them would ever like them. She sighed once more and got to work on her math assignment. 

Dinner was just as she imagined it would be, lonely. Both Bruce and Jason were out of the house. Or in another part of it. The manor was big enough that it probably had rooms she had no knowledge of or access to. Alfred made up lame excuses for them both. But from what was said about Bruce in the news gossip, she could hazard a guess about his whereabouts. However, there was no telling where Jason went.

Even though Jason annoyed her—most of the time—he was fun to be around. He was always so cheerful and happy. She’d seen another side to him at times. He could be very angry and quiet but when he noticed she was around, he did a complete turn-around in his demeanor. She wasn’t sure if it was to hide his feelings or if it was simply due to wanting her to feel comfortable. She often wondered if he was like that just to be nice or if Alfred or Bruce had put him up to it. Well, maybe not Bruce. He was a kind man but he didn’t go out of his way to spend any time with her. But she could tell that Bruce and Jason were as thick as thieves.

When Hailey finished eating, she cleaned up after herself. She knew that Alfred was not around since he hadn’t checked on her once since he served her dinner. She was walking towards the stairs when the front door opened. Hailey turned to see who it was out of curiosity and then screamed since a person she didn't know had just walked into the manor without permission. The intruder was scowling something fierce. What if he was there to kill someone like the guy who'd killed her dad?

When the guy heard her scream, he turned to look at her in alarm.

“Who are you?” he asked slowly but stayed where he was with his hand still on the door.

“You’re the one breaking into someone else’s place!” Hailey said pointing a finger at him. “The real question is, who are _you_? And what do you want?”

“Someone else’s—?” he looked around the house to make certain that he was in the right place and then back at Hailey. “Very funny. Who are you, kid?”

“I asked you first.”

“Technically, I did.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and stared her down. The expression on his face, his mannerisms, and just his overall appearance finally clicked in her head.

“You’re Bruce’s son,” Hailey said and snapped her fingers. “Richard.” She smiled at him. “It’s nice to meet you. Jason told me about you but he said you probably wouldn’t be coming around—”

“Okay, so now that you know who I am,” Dick said cutting off her tirade and gestured to her. Suddenly her face fell.

“He didn’t tell you about me,” she said in a small voice. 

“Who? Jason?”

“Or Alfred,” she said and looked away. “Shit, not even Bruce, huh?”

“I’m sorry,” Dick said and walked up to her. He kneeled before her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “It’s probably my fault. I don’t do a good job of keeping in touch.” She looked at him and nodded. But the corners of her lips were still turned down. “So, do I get a name or should I guess?”

“My name is Hailey Thomas,” she said and Dick’s eyes widened. 

“Hailey!” Dick said and hugged her suddenly. “Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry. I should’ve known it was you. I didn’t know you were already here!”

“Huh?”

“How are you, kid? Look at you!" He pushed her back a step to get a better look at her. "How old are you?”

“I’m eleven,” Hailey told him but then she shook her head. “How do you know about me? I thought that they hadn’t...”

Dick’s excitement died down. He frowned a little but then he smiled, a small upturn of his lips, hoping she hadn't noticed the slip.

“Of course, Bruce told me about you! It slipped my mind is all. Plus, I thought you’d be younger,” he said in a hurry. Sounding a little nervous but still happy.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Dick said and placed a hand on his knee the other on the floor to give Hailey back her space. “Absolutely.”

Hailey scratched her arm nervously. 

“So you know about my dad?” she said and looked down then away. 

Dick’s eyes widened. No, he had absolutely no idea about her dad. And Bruce hadn’t told him that Hailey was even at the manor. It’d been some time since he saw her last. Or the her he'd met previously. This particular Hailey didn't even recognize him. But Dick had been present when Zatanna erased her memory while her soul was in a different body. He just hadn’t expected it to affect her next life. But according to Zatanna, she’d erased her memories from her soul, not her mind since the mind she had currently been using belonged to a different person. The other thing about her reincarnation was that it didn’t happen in a linear form. So there was never any telling when she’d show up next or in who.

As Dick was looking at Hailey he realized that she didn’t bear any resemblance to the Hailey he'd known before. This Hailey had ash brown hair and her eyes were a light shade of violet. She did resemble Jason, though. They most definitely had the same nose. She could even pass as his sister and not third cousins twice removed or whatever way it was that they were related. Dick tweaked her nose and she squeaked.

“Don’t look so down, kid,” Dick told her with a small smile."I’m sorry about your dad. But, how are you liking it here? Are they treating you well?”

“Yeah, definitely,” she said nervously and nodded.

Dick smiled and stood up.

“Alfred, I’m home!” he called out and looked around. “Where is everyone?”

Hailey shrugged.

“No one’s here?” he said with a frown. “You’re all alone?”

“Uh,” Hailey said nervously. “Alfred told me Bruce had work stuff and Jason…” she trailed off. 

“But where’s Alfred?”

“Maybe he’s taking a nap?” Hailey suggested. “He did look a little tired before dinner.”

“Alright,” Dick told her. “I’m just going to look for him.”

“Sure,” Hailey said and began to make her way up the stairs. 

She looked back for a moment and saw Dick walking past the stairs. It made her pause. There wasn’t anything back there but Bruce's study and Alfred wouldn't be there if he was napping. She shrugged to herself and hurried up the stairs. At least she wasn’t alone in the house anymore. That made her feel a thousand times better.


	5. Chapter Four

The night Richard visited, Hailey had heard some arguing before the front door was slammed. She pretended not to have heard anything. But the angry shouts had scared her. Her dad and stepmom used to have loud fights like that. They were usually about Hailey. She wondered if Bruce or Richard were arguing about her. But they probably weren’t. Or she hoped. Richard had already looked upset when he stopped by. Even so, Hailey liked him a lot. He’d been very nice to her. But when the raised voices reached her room, she quickly changed into her pajamas and slipped into bed. She stayed under the covers, even covering her head. She figured out that it was Richard who’d slammed the door on his way out. That made her feel a little sad. So she quietly made a prayer. Mrs. Suarez taught her how to talk to the saints. She didn’t like to repeat the prayers Mrs. Suarez taught her. Instead, she spoke in her own words. Then she wondered if the saints could even hear her. So she spoke again a little louder but this time she decided that saints probably couldn’t hear anybody. She uncovered her head and stared out into the night. Her bedroom door opened slightly after a short rap but she didn’t hear it. So engrossed was she in her little prayer.

“Please,” Hailey said addressing God himself. “Help Richard.”

Alfred stopped his advance upon hearing Hailey’s plea.

“He was a little upset. But he’s really nice and gives great big hugs. Maybe you can send one of your angels to hug him. It might make him feel better. Then he’ll come back to visit. I promise to be good. But I can’t promise to do my chores because I don’t have any here. But-but I’ll do all my homework. It’s all I have to do. It’s a little boring but I like it here. Um, I don’t know what else to say. But can you keep watch over Jason, Bruce, and Alfred? And don’t forget Richard! Amen.”

Hailey squirmed in bed until she was laying down completely covered by the blankets once again. 

From the doorway, Alfred was smiling at the young girl and wiped his eyes before shutting the door and making his way back downstairs. He felt the same way she did about Master Richard. If only he and Master Bruce could finally settle their differences. 

Hailey woke with a scream. It was commonplace in the manor to hear her shouting in the morning. Jason delighted in his before school pranks. This time it was different. It was Saturday morning, which meant that Jason and Bruce slept in. But the startled scream that erupted from her lips woke them. Jason was closest to Hailey’s bedroom and quicker on his feet. He burst out of his room and rushed into her bedroom only to find Hailey hugging herself and wiping tears from her eyes.

“Hey, what happened?” Jason said looking around the room for a threat that wasn’t there.

“What are you talking about?” Hailey said with a little sniffle.

“You were screaming a moment ago,” Jason accused as he walked closer to her bed.

“Was not,” Hailey said looking away with a slight frown.

“Hals,” Jason said sympathetically. “You don’t have to lie to _me_.”

Hailey looked down and wrung her hands together. 

“But you don’t have to tell me if you don’t wanna,” Jason said reaching for her but at the last moment, pulling his hand back unsure.

Bruce had stayed in the doorway and decided to walk into the room. He was still groggy but figured out that what had woken her was a nightmare. The sun had barely risen and he’d only gotten a couple of hours of sleep. However, one of the children under his care needed to be comforted.

“Do you think you’ll be able to get any more sleep?” Bruce asked placing a hand on Hailey’s head. She startled and looked up. Once she saw that he wasn’t upset with her, she shook her head. Bruce held in a sigh but he was prepared for that. “Let’s go downstairs. How does an early morning movie paired with milkshakes sound?”

Jason grinned and nudged Hailey with a fist to her shoulder. “Say yes!”

“Okay,” Hailey said in a small voice.

“How about adding potato and egg skillet breakfast to that menu?” Alfred said from the doorway.

“Sure, Alfred,” Bruce said with a small smile. “We’ll take it in the media room if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.”

Jason whooped! He was only making so much fanfare to help Hailey forget about whatever it was that made her scream and cry so early in the morning. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew she’d had a nightmare. But he just wished he knew what it was about. 

They all made their way downstairs still clad in pajamas and bed hair. As he looked from Jason to Bruce, she couldn’t help but feel giddy. Her nightmare was forgotten. And her mind trying to remember the last time her dad had sat with her to watch tv. In the early days of her adoption, while she was six, Jasper had made sure to spend as much time as possible with his newly adopted daughter. The girl didn’t have any memories and Jasper was encouraged to teach her as much as possible before she was enrolled in school. In two short months, Hailey had been ready to tackle the first grade. But her time with Jasper had dwindled down to a couple of hours a night. Even on the weekend. Jasper had two very demanding jobs. And so when he died and Hailey moved in with Bruce, she was very understanding of the fact that he couldn’t be around much due to his job. So this moment that Bruce was gifting her, she cherished it. Jason took hold of Hailey’s hand to pull her ahead.

“Race ya!” Jason said and hopped on the stair banisters. He balanced himself quickly and began to run down. He hopped from the banister to the wall, zigzagging his way down.

“Jason, you idiot! You’re gonna break your neck!” Hailey said as she ran down the stairs. She skipped the one step and then two, multiplying the amount of skipped steps all the way down. 

Jason jumped over Alfred’s head, just as Hailey hopped down to the step he was on before she took another leap.

“My word,” Alfred said with a hand on his chest. 

Hailey hopped on to the banister to slide the rest of the way down on her bottom and beat Jason to the bottom when she hopped off the last moment. But that little move had made Jason falter and forced him to land and windmill on the steps before he caught his balance and hopped down just a second too late.

“I won!” Hailey said and hopped up and down. 

Bruce chuckled. He realized that Jason had been right when he said she was getting faster. Bruce had assumed that he’d meant she was faster on her feet. But looked like she was getting quicker at mimicking his daredevil-like stunts.

“You cheated,” Jason said with a pout. But he wasn’t being serious. 

“Don’t be a sore loser,” Hailey said in a poor attempt at mimicking Jason’s deeper voice. She knew that Jason was just mimicking her every time she’d lost and it irritated her a little. That made him grin. “You’re a crazy jumping monkey!”

“What does that make you a little baby grasshopper?” Jason dancing away from Hailey when she attempted to slap him on the arm.

“Jason!” she said in a huff and ran after him when he took off running to the media room.

“Where do they get so much energy so early in the morning?” Bruce said to Alfred stifling a yawn.

“The power of youth,” Alfred said looking at Bruce askance. “I’m sure you remember the feeling.”

“Very funny,” Bruce said dryly and followed the children as Alfred made his way to the kitchen.

Once Jason and Hailey had finished their breakfast and milkshakes, they fell asleep with full bellies barely being able to keep their eyelids open. Bruce had his head tilted over his shoulder. One of his arms was over the back of the sofa and his free hand was holding Hailey’s head as if to prevent it from falling into her own chest. Hailey was leaning against Bruce’s side with her legs curled up on the sofa. Jason had his legs curled up on the armrest of the sofa. He was using the crook of Hailey’s knees as a pillow. One of his arms was resting on his belly and his other was reaching up to the back of the sofa. His hand was lightly gripping Bruce’s forearm as if to hold the man in place.

Alfred had cleared the dishes and returned to turn off the movie. He had a camera in hand and snapped a picture of the three sleeping souls before he covered their bodies with the spare blankets he’d brought up. He took a look at Master Bruce and smiled. But then he inwardly sighed. The three were a picture of a perfect little mismatched family with the exception of the first young man that Master Bruce had taken in. Alfred missed the days when Richard was just as young as these two. He’d had fewer burdens and heartaches back then too. And it was most unfortunate that those heartaches were heavily intermixed with the Master of the house. Alfred turned away and made his way to his own dormitory. He needed at least a few hours of sleep before the rest of the family was up again and looking for a bite to eat. But he made a decision to invite Richard for dinner later that evening. The fact that he was planning to reel the young man back to the house using Hailey as bait did not make him feel ignoble in the slightest.

Hailey made her way to the dining room, following behind Jason who had spent all of his time with since they had woken in the media room. Bruce had told him to take the day off. Hailey wasn’t sure what it was that Jason was free from doing but she was happy. For once, she didn’t have to spend an entire day alone in the great big mansion. The first thing they did was go out for a run. But it wasn’t a race. Though, Jason did tease her about how slow she was after they’d been running for fifteen minutes. He even ran backward sporting a huge grin for a bit until he tripped and landed on his ass. The startled look on his face sent Hailey reeling into laughter. She laughed so hard she crumbled to the ground. They gave up their run and just sat and talked for a bit before they decided to head back to the manor. Jason raced her and won, of course. Afterward, they relaxed in the pool until Alfred called them in for a meal. They spent the rest of their time in the library reading. Or at least, Hailey tried to read but every book she chose was snatched out of hands by Jason who flipped through them and after giving her a brief summary told her to choose something else. Hailey was annoyed but Jason just told her she wouldn’t have enjoyed the books she picked because they were for an older audience. And so he was currently asking her about the book she did manage to read in their route to the dining room. But before Hailey could answer, the front doors opened and Hailey saw Richard walk in.

“Richard! You came back!” Hailey said and rushed towards him.

Dick chuckled and opened his arms for Hailey when she barreled into them. He picked her up off her feet and kissed her forehead.

“It’s good to see you again, Hailey. Sorry that I left in such a rush the other day,” he told her as he set her down. Then he looked up to find a scowling face staring at him. “Hey, Jay. What’s up?”

“Why are you here? What happened?” Jason said and crossed his arms over his chest. He was extremely suspicious of Dick being at the manor twice in the same week. That never happened unless there was something big happening in Gotham or someone was injured. And nobody was injured. 

“Uh,” Dick said with a crooked smile. “Nothing _happened_. Alfred invited me over for dinner. Should I have not come?”

“Jason, stop being rude,” Hailey said in a loud whisper having already walked over to stand beside him and trying to swat his arm.

Jason automatically dashed out of the way. 

“I wasn’t being rude,” Jason told her and looked at Dick then back at her. “When did you meet Dick?”

“Jason,” Hailey hissed and she looked at Richard apologetically.

“_What_? That’s his name,” Jason said with an amused smile.

“Yeah, Hailey,” Dick said with a small smile having closed the distance between them. He placed a hand on her head and she looked up to get a better look at his face. “I’ve never gone by my given name. Everybody calls me Dick. Well, except for Alfie. It’s my nickname. You can call me Dick, too. I’d prefer it actually.”

Hailey’s face made a complicated expression and Jason began to laugh.

“I think you broke her, Dick,” Jason said and laughed. He hopped out of the way of another of Hailey’s attempts to hit him and made a dash for the dining room. Hailey was right at his heels.

“Jason, you’re such a jerk,” Hailey said angrily.

Dick just started to laugh and then looked at Alfred who appeared in the hallway.

“Welcome home, Master Richard,” Alfred said.

“Hey, Alfie,” Dick said. He walked up to the older man and placing a hand on his shoulder, giving it a little squeeze. “Thanks for the invite. So... are those two always like that?”

“Oh, nothing exciting as all that, Master Richard. Just your bog-standard mornings filled with raucous children,” Alred said making Dick’s smile widen. “To think all that noise used to come from a single cheeky monkey.”

Dick began to laugh in earnest. “At least they’re not hanging from the chandeliers.”

“I do hope _no one_ puts that bright idea in their young impressionable minds,” Alfred said giving Dick a critical look and gestured to the dining room. “Come along, I need to get you settled before I bring out dinner.”

“I think I may know my way around, Al,” Dick said as he made his way to the dining room.

“Nevertheless,” Alfred said easily making Dick chuckle.

“God I missed you, Al.”

“You’ve been severely missed around the manor as well, young master,” Alfred told him as he surreptitiously wiped a stray tear from his eye.

“Yeah, sure,” Dick said his face suddenly going solemn as he entered the dining room and saw Bruce.

“Dick?” Bruce said looking at the young man up and down checking for injuries. “What happened?”

Dick looked surprised and looked back at Alfred who acted as if he hadn’t snuck Dick’s invitation to the manor without alerting the boss of the house. Dick groaned inwardly but refrained from outing Alfie. Though someone else did it for him.

“Jeez, you’re paranoid,” Jason said with a roll of his eyes as if he hadn’t asked the same question earlier. “Alfred invited him to dinner. Just cause you two are pissed at ea—”

“Language, young man,” Alfred said interupting Jason’s tirade. Though the reprimand was more about stopping him from airing their dirty laundry in front of the youngest in the family. 

“Sorry, Al,” Jason said and frowned at Bruce as if he were the reason he’d gotten in trouble.

“Though I must admit what he said was true. I did in fact extended an invitation to Master Richard for dinner.”

“Oh, well, I’m glad you could make it,” Bruce said and gestured for Dick to sit down.

“Well, who could turn down an offer for a home-cooked meal?” Dick said but the question was meant to be rhetorical. He sat next to Jason across from Hailey who was sitting at Bruce’s left.

Alfred took it as a good sign and retreated to get their meal.

Dick smiled in Hailey’s direction. She smiled back but then looked at Bruce who looked a little uncomfortable about the entire situation.

“Why are you mad at him?” Hailey asked in a small voice. 

“Yeah, old man, I want to know too,” Jason said loking from Dick to Bruce. 

They’d never given him a straight answer whenever they argued. Most of the time it seemed like they were arguing about him. But other times…there was no telling what they were arguing about since they stopped talking if they saw him. As if he carried around a halt sign or something. He found it quite frustrating. 

Bruce let out a long drawn out sigh but didn’t look at any of them. Dick suddenly felt anger flare through him but he squashed it. He just couldn’t believe that Bruce couldn’t even lie to the kids about being mad at him. Because he was mad at Dick. The problem was, Dick was angrier than Bruce. But the kids didn’t need to know about all that. Or that he’d been kicked out of the manor. Or fired from being Robin. All that still bothered Dick. And other things, smaller issues, had piled up on top of the original hurt. Being spied upon recently had been one of those issues. But Dick knew they had to say something and so he decided to throw the least of their issues out in the open.

“Probably because I dropped out of college and refuse to go back,” Dick said through tight lips but it was obvious to Jason that he was covering for something else entirely.

“You dropped out of college?” Hailey asked him curiously. “Why? Don’t you need to go to college to get a good job?”

“Well…” Dick said sheepishly. He ran a nervous hand across the back of his neck. He wasn’t sure what to say. He couldn’t exactly tell her that Bruce was a billionaire so he always had that to fall back on. Or that he was a vigilante and couldn’t really juggle school or a career with his nightlife. He was currently working as a bartender. He wasn’t sure if he should mention that to the kids either. Bruce didn’t approve of his current venture. Or what he was planning to do next. 

“If you don’t go to college, you’re going to have to have two jobs if you want to take care of a family. Unless you don’t want a family,” Hailey said thinking back to her dad, Jasper, who could barely make ends meet after he’d adopted her. 

Dick chuckled nervously. Jason grinned in his direction. 

“He _does_ have a girlfriend,” Jason said smiling devilishly but he was looking at Dick. “Unless you mean to abandon her once you knock her up.”

“Jason,” Bruce said in a reprimand but Jason just chuckled.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Dick said defensively. “I do plan on getting married…” Dick stopped talking suddenly. Bruce and Jason raised their eyebrows in his direction. “Not right now! But, you know...”

“You need to have a plan if you’re thinking about something that serious,” Bruce said but stopped talking because Alfred walked in and began to serve them.

Hailey not having noticed and not having paid attention to what they were talking about since she got lost in her thoughts had decided to voice her opinions.

“Then again, even Bruce works so much it’s like he has three jobs,” Hailey said making everyone turn to look at her. “So maybe, it isn’t so bad that you dropped out of college. You could just do something that makes you happy. Since it’s just you.”

“My word,” Alfred said. “Sounds as if you’ve given the topic quite a bit of thought.”

“Yeah, I already know what I want to do when I get older,” Hailey said and looked down nervously.

“Is that so?” Bruce said in surprise. She was only eleven. He didn’t think she would think so far ahead. He doubted that Jason did. “And do you want to do?”

“I...I want to be a doctor,” Hailey said and then shook her head. “Not a doctor that works in a hospital or anything like that. I read about doctors that help when there are disasters and such. And I want to do that.”

“Like a medic,” Jason said and Hailey nodded. “Huh. That’s cool.”

“Yeah, you think so?”

“Duh,” Jason said with a roll of his eyes. “It’s what I just said.”

Hailey giggled and started to eat.

Bruce and Dick were looking at one another. Something passed between them, Jason noticed but he didn’t know what. But then Dick smiled and Bruce nodded and it was as if whatever tension that had been in the room when Dick walked in had been reduced by twenty percent with Hailey’s giggle. Jason decided not to think about it too hard. He was just happy that Bruce and Dick were in the same room together without arguing. Times like these were rare and far between that it was best to just sit back and enjoy them.


	6. Chapter Five

In the weeks that followed, Hailey wasn’t as lonely as she had been in the early days when she’d first arrived at Wayne Manor until just recently. Jason spent more time with her. They went out for runs together on the weekends before Bruce woke and took Jason away so that he could go to some martial-arts class. Not only that but Jason became available for dinner as well. He explained that after-school he had tutoring. He didn’t tell her where he’d go or even who tutored him but apparently, his tutoring sessions ended earlier so that he could make to dinner. He said he promised to practice his lessons more at home so he started to use her a soundboard. 

Apparently, Jason was learning Cantonese and Mandarin but he didn’t have anyone to practice with or so he said. So he spoke to her in either dialect and then had her repeat what he’d said before he’d tell her what he was saying in English. Hailey wasn’t learning either language but she liked the way it made Jason laugh when she said something wrong. He would make her repeat things until she said it right. There were a few times that she refused to repeat what he was saying. And it only made him press her that much more to do so. But she knew—something about the gleam in his eyes—that whatever it was that he wanted her to say was probably not so nice to say to anyone. There were times that he caught on and changed the tone of his voice, keeping a serious expression, then he’d howl with laughter after hearing her say some expression that would probably make her mother turn in her grave. Though she wasn’t sure if that were even possible because she didn’t remember her mother. But she always punched him in the arm and yelled at him for being a jerk. Not that he cared, he was always too busy laughing.

Dick also made appearances at least once every two to three weeks. He’d have dinner with them and then watch a movie or play a board game with Hailey and Jason afterward. A few times, when the weather permitted, they actually went out to swim in the pool. Jason always snuck away during Dick’s visits leaving the two of them alone once the sun was starting to set. Dick either didn’t seem to notice or simply didn’t comment about Jason’s sudden disappearances. Hailey didn’t bring them up either but she wondered if perhaps Jason just snuck away to find Bruce. 

The man of the house kept himself as busy as ever. But he always made it a point to have breakfast with them during the week and sometimes he made it to dinner as well. More likely than not, it was usually when Dick stopped by for a visit. Even though the two of them hardly said a word to one another. Jason was usually their buffer when they did and was quick to change the subject if the two older males began having a glaring contest. Then one day before he left for the night, Dick said he was going out of town and Hailey didn’t see him again. 

She asked Bruce about Dick a month later but Bruce simply told her that he was off exploring the world. Jason scoffed saying the word worlds under his breath but didn’t elaborate further, even though Hailey asked for clarification, due to the fact that Bruce was glaring daggers at Jason. After that day, it seemed like Bruce was doing that more and more often with Jason. She would hear them bickering sometimes at odd hours of the night. But she was never awake enough to be certain of what it was she heard. It could’ve been partly a dream and or part reality. At breakfast, they seemed fine as if they had never had words. But from what Hailey noticed they stopped being so close to one another. It was hard for her to pinpoint what was off between them exactly. They had always seemed more like friends than father and son but lately, they really were just father and son stuck in a raging storm. Or that was how Hailey pictured their relationship. And she, as always, felt like an outsider looking in.

According to Alfred, their behavior was nothing she needed to worry about. Or that was what Alfred said to her one evening during dinner that she once again was partaking of alone. It was the way of fathers and sons he’d said. Not that she would know anything about that as she was just a little girl and not even a true daughter of Bruce Wayne. Alfred didn’t say that but she inferred it. Bruce was simply her foster parent after all. It was Jason who was the adopted son of the billionaire. Though it didn’t seem like the press was aware of that detail. Not of that mattered though. All she knew was that if Dick didn’t come back soon the tension in the house was going to implode.

Hailey would have never guessed that she would be the first to crack under the high tension in the manor. But unfortunately, it happened to her at school. The atmosphere at school had changed—not by much—since she first started school at the academy. Her teachers praised her for her good grades and work ethic. But her classmates never truly befriended her. They were friendly enough. But it was all simply to placate their parents. They were supposed to be nice to Bruce Wayne’s so-called daughter. But they still whispered behind her back. Not with as much venom as in the beginning. But the jealousy of her becoming a billionaire from one night to the next and the overall hatred of her origin—that of being just shy of having been an impoverished child of blue-collar workers—was never far from their thoughts and words that carried in the hallways. And perhaps it was that same hatred and jealousy which set the entire incident into effect. 

It started with Jason coming to school with a broken arm and a black eye. When her classmates asked her how it happened—because Jason wouldn’t say anything—and she didn’t have any answers for them, rumors began to circulate. According to the rumor mill, Bruce punched Jason and hurled him down a staircase because Hailey made up some story to accuse Jason of something or other. The specifics weren’t part of the rumor since everyone had a different theory. And according to the main schemers, Jason being Jason talked shit to Bruce and forced the older man to lash out violently. 

Things started out small the way things normally did. An accidental shove in the hallway. A foot being stuck out in the aisle as Hailey passed by to sit in her seat. Her gym clothes being stolen. Her homework disappearing after she’d turned it in resulting in her grades dropping and Bruce receiving a call. Once Hailey caught on to what was happening, she turned her homework directly into the teacher’s hands at the start of class instead of the homework basket. She was more aware of her surroundings as she walked down the hall. She successfully avoided being pushed into a locker or into a mop bucket. On one occasion avoided being shoved into the boys’ bathroom. Though her quick side-stepping to get out of harm's way usually ended with the person who attempted to shove her to fall on his or her ass. In the classroom, she walked around the entire seating area so that she came up to her seat from the back. That way no one would be able to trip her up. All her attempts seemed to be working. The attackers were successfully frustrated and Hailey was able to carry on with school—though more alert than ever before—without incident. That was until her attackers grew bolder. An entire lunch tray was spilled over her head in the lunchroom. Dirty mop water was then hurled at her while she attempted to clean up the mess all over her person in the bathroom. And that was the last straw for Hailey. It had been a group of girls that Hailey couldn’t see through the sop she was covered in. And she decided at that moment to fight back. Enough was enough. 

Hailey had never been trained to fight. But she was angry. The fact that she was teeming with emotions made her lash out. She grabbed and clawed at anyone within reach. The fact that her skin was slippery and wet gave her an advantage. Her attackers couldn’t keep a hold on her. The wet floor made them tumble over one another. And Hailey took them all down. After finding her way to the door through her sodden hair, she used her own foot as a door stopper to prevent anyone else to come in to help the girls. She could hear the other students trying to barge their way in. She'd been lucky that she's reached the door in time. The girls who’d attacked her were crying and screaming for help. And Hailey was screaming in rage at the top of her lungs. She was so done with that stupid school and everyone in it. It wasn’t until the sounds outside the bathroom door died down and the pressure against her foot had subsided that she heard a police officer asking for entry. 

Hailey got out of the way. 

After that, she couldn’t remember what happened. One minute, she was being dragged out of the bathroom. The next, she was in the hospital listening to a doctor speak to Bruce about the incident at school. She had no idea how she’d arrived at the hospital. But she heard the words tranq dart being said through Bruce Wayne’s gritted teeth. She hadn't made heads or tails of any other part of the conversation. Maybe it was the tone of voice he'd used that forced her to hear those words in particular. They had managed to cross the haze in her muggy mind. 

It wasn’t long before Hailey was ushered out of the hospital by Bruce. He kept a hand on her shoulder as he maneuvered her down the hallways and down to an underground garage where Alfred and Jason were waiting.

Jason was no longer wearing a cast. He hadn’t been in school that day because he was having it removed. He heard everything that happened through Alfred and Bruce probably. But Hailey wouldn’t look him or anyone in the eyes. She was ashamed and overwhelmed with so much hurt that she couldn’t quite process it. If Jason or anyone else said anything to her, she didn’t hear them. On the drive home, while she was sitting between Jason and Bruce, she couldn’t take the pain any longer and she began to cry. Tears ran down her face and she began to sniffle. She wasn’t sobbing openly. Just quiet enough to not cause too much commotion. But there was a thought running through her head over and over that she couldn’t quite escape. And she clung to Bruce suddenly to the man’s surprise. He easily lifted her onto his lap and held her while he tried to soothe her. His large hand rubbed her back and he told her everything would be okay. But Hailey knew that things would never be okay again.

“Daddy,” she said and cried a little harder. 

The looks of surprise from Bruce to Jason to Alfred at Hailey’s use of that word would have been comical in any other situation. But they quickly morphed into one of endearment. Hailey was openly accepting them as family. Or so they thought until her next words made them all feel so useless and cold. Because what she said next was so painful because they knew that they couldn’t ease that pain.

“I miss my daddy.”

Bruce closed his eyes tight and breathed. Then he held Hailey a little tighter. Alfred’s mouth turned down and his eyes glistened. Jason scooted closer and took hold of Hailey’s hand. He held it in his slightly bigger hand and squeezed it once when he felt Hailey’s fingers wrap around his own.

“I know, sweetie,” Bruce said in a sad voice. “I know.”

Because that was something Bruce knew well. He knew how it felt to miss his father. And his mother. His parents always offered a safe haven. Something he tried to offer his children as well. But he was failing spectacularly. He’d failed with Dick. He was failing with Jason. And now Hailey… If only his father was around to offer him the advice he needed to help him carry the burden of so many broken hearts he was responsible for. Including the one that belonged to the man currently driving them all home.


	7. Chapter Six

Jason had been sitting by Hailey’s bedside to keep her company. She hadn’t left her room since she’d been brought back from the hospital. She refused to speak or eat. Though saying refused meant she was doing so willingly. She simply was unresponsive to any suggestions or questions or any words whatsoever. Leslie has stopped by the manor after the second day Hailey refused liquids or solids of any kind and hooked her up to an IV. She was adamant that Hailey needed psychiatric treatment. Bruce didn’t think they had to go so far. Hailey simply needed time to process what had happened he told Leslie. 

So far they only knew half the story, the other half. The student body’s half. Students that were not Hailey’s friends. The teachers said they hadn’t noticed anything. The cafeteria staff mentioned that Hailey was harassed and pointed out a specific girl in Hailey’s class that they constantly overheard gossiping about the quiet, polite girl. 

When Bruce mentioned what the cafeteria staff had disclosed to Hailey’s teachers only one teacher came forth with the name of the girl in question. Britney Cunningham. She was one of the girls who’d been locked in the bathroom with Hailey. Or by Hailey. How that had happened no one would say. Britney and the other four girls said that Hailey went crazy and attacked them. But they wouldn’t say anything else. According to cafeteria staff, Hailey had been the one who was targeted. One of the boys that was always at Britney’s hip upended his and the others’ lunches on her person. Hailey reacted by standing up suddenly. She glared at the boy meanwhile everyone was laughing at her. The boy shrunk back from her and Hailey left the cafeteria at a brisk walking pace. Only a minute later Britney and her friends followed her. It didn’t take a genius to know that they only followed to further harass Hailey and that her attack towards them wasn’t unwarranted. Bruce wasn’t going to leave any stone unturned. And the science teacher who had both Hailey and Britney in his class was being very helpful. 

According to Mr. Ludwig, Britney had been very angry that Hailey scored a perfect score on a test that all her other classmates including Britney barely scored anything higher than a B average. Normally, Mr. Ludwig used a curve scale when students struggled with a unit. But since Hailey scored a perfect score he couldn’t do that. Which made Britney’s grade point average drop. And she accused Hailey of cheating. But Mr. Ludwig was aware that Hailey knew the material inside and out. Hailey was the only one who didn’t have trouble with her homework assignments on that unit. Mr. Ludwig spoke to her prior to the test to find out how it was possible that she understood the lesson so well. Hailey mentioned that she had a tutor who helped her understand the topic. A certain Mr. Allen who was the uncle of one of her brother’s college friends. Mr. Ludwig was impressed that she took his class so seriously. So when the accusation was hurled carelessly, Mr. Ludwig easily waved the accusation away. He hadn’t realized that any other incident involving Hailey was in relation to Britney’s test score. Once he thought about what could have led to the bathroom incident, it was very clear to him what the catalyst had been. He didn’t think Hailey would have it in her to just snap out of the blue as everyone was implying. He believed that Hailey was simply defending herself.

Bruce wasn’t a stupid man. The media made him out to be but he was far more cunning than anyone ever expected him to be. And so armed with Mr. Ludwig’s explanation of what might have lead to the fallout, he quickly contacted his lawyers and had them begin an investigation starting with Britney’s friends who forced to speak by their respective parents with the promise that Bruce Wayne would not press charges unless they told they told the truth, spilled everything. Hailey had been the victim of bullying. Britney was expelled from the Academy and forced to begin therapy. The others did not get off easy, they were suspended and forced to do community work. The school apologized for not having caught the bullying ahead of time and any and all previous grievances towards Hailey were retracted and expunged. But Bruce was aware that everything he did wouldn’t change how Hailey felt about the incident. She closed herself off once again. He thought it best to give her time. He hoped that she would once again be strong enough to pull herself free from the torments of her own mind. 

* * *

“The wizard swayed on the bridge, stepped back a pace, and then again stood still. ‘I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow—!'”

“That’s not what he says!” Hailey blurted out cutting off Jason’s voice as he read from Tolkien’s  _ Fellowship of the Ring _ . 

Jason chuckled. “How do you know? I’m the one reading the book.”

Jason couldn’t help grinning as he looked at Hailey’s exasperated face. He was very happy to see her being herself. That she’d finally snapped out of whatever it was that was keeping her from interacting with anyone. 

Hailey sniffed and looked away towards the window. “You can’t just throw in a line from  _ The Three Little Pigs _ and not expect me to notice,” Hailey said. 

“Is that what I did?” Jason said redolent of innocence.

“You’ve been doing it a lot,” Hailey said looking at him. “You mix up character names and quotes and stuff.”

“So, you’ve been paying attention?” Jason said closing the book and putting it aside. He leaned forward, arms on his knees and hands clasped. 

“Yeah,” Hailey said and nodded. “But promise not to say anything. I don’t want to go back to school.”

Jason smiled wider and sat up. He knew he’d seen a flicker of emotion here and there while he read to her. He just wasn’t sure what would make her finally say something. But man, she was a good actress. He’d have to give her back. 

“Plus, I’m starving,” she said and laid a hand on her stomach just as it made a very loud and long growling sound. 

Jason started to laugh and stood up heading for the door. He looked back to see Hailey covering her face with her hands. Embarrassment forcing her to want to hide. He laughed again and told her he’d be back with food. 

Hailey wasn’t alone for long. Alfred waltzed in with broth and tea with Jason who was looking a little hangdog. And Hailey once more took on a stoic expression. Even though her stomach growled at the smell of food, her expression remained the same and her eyes were fixed at some point in oblivion. 

“I caught this young man trying to fix you something to eat, Miss Hailey,” Alfred said eyeing the girl and ignoring the fact that she was ignoring him. He’d had plenty of practice with children who ignored him that he didn’t take it personally. “But since you haven’t eaten anything solid for days on end, I’m afraid the only thing your stomach can take is broth. I also brought you some tea. In a couple of hours, I’ll bring you a little more and after that, we shall try something more solid.”

Alfred placed a warm hand on Hailey’s head and sighed. 

“I do wish you’d speak up. We only want the best for you,” Alfred told her. “I’m willing to speak for Master Bruce to say that he’s beside himself in worry. If there’s anything you need, we’ll gladly fetch it for you. For now, eat your broth, dear. I’ll leave you in Jason’s care because heaven knows neither of you cares for the company of an old man.”

“Aww, Alfie,” Jason said. “You know it’s not like that. But I’m just reading to her. Boring stuff really.”

“Very well,” Alfred said making his way to the door. “Carry on.”

As soon as Alfred was out the door, Hailey was scarfing down the broth. 

“Jesus, Hals. Slow down before you barf,” Jason told her. 

“I told ya I was hungry,” Hailey said putting down the empty bowl and wiping her mouth. She suddenly felt really tired and her belly was sloshy with soup. She let out a sigh and closed her eyes as she snuggled under the covers. 

Jason scratched his head as he looked at her. Maybe she hadn’t been acting at all. 

“Hals,” Jason said sitting on the edge of the bed and wrapping a hand around one of her ankles. He squeezed it a little when she hummed in response. “What happened? You know, at school.”

Hailey let out a long exasperated sigh. She squirmed until she was completely under the covers and then told him that what happened in the cafeteria and the girls' bathroom. Though she didn’t tell him about the rumors or anything that would involve Jason or that the bullying had started some time before. Right when Jason’s arm had been broken. But when he asked what prompted all that, she shrugged and even though he couldn’t see her, he understood that she wasn’t going to tell him. 

“I don’t want to go back to school,” Hailey said quietly. “Not because of what happened.” She uncovered her head and looked at him. “I just don’t like it there. Those kids are different from me. I miss my old school. My friends. Everything was smaller and homey like going to the park and feeling calm and knowing you could run and scream and laugh. You know? Here, everything is like, I don’t know, going into a museum and not being able to touch anything or make any noise cause the security guard will throw you out. I just, I don’t know.”

Jason sighed and squeezed her ankle. 

“I’m sorry,” he told her quietly. 

“For what?” 

“I’m the one who brought you here.”

“What? No, you didn’t.”

“Hailey look at me,” Jason said and Hailey held herself up with an elbow as she looked at him. “I was there that night. I was the one who brought you here. I’m Robin.”

Hailey looked at him for a beat then frowned. She remembered that night like it was a weird dream. But Robin, she remembered him clearly. His voice. And she whimpered a little before she hugged him. 

“Hals?”

Then she started to cry. And she didn’t know why she was crying. But she wasn’t sad. All she knew was that Jason felt bad for having brought her to the manor and she hated that she’d made him feel that way. Life in the manor wasn’t so bad. And there was no one that was mean to her like her stepmother had been. It was just that she missed Mrs. Suarez and her old school and the friends she’d had in her old school. She sniffed and took in a breath as Jason squeezed her to his chest. 

“Why are you crying?”

Hailey started to laugh a little. Then shook her head snuffling again. 

“I don’t know. But if you’re Robin and you were there that night, you helped save me,” Hailey said softly and added, “My stepmom wasn’t such a nice person. Bruce and Alfred are very nice. And when you’re not being a jerk I like you too.”

Jason chuckled and ruffled her hair. 

“I feel stupid for not knowing that was you that night,” Hailey said and sighed. The last of her tears drying up. “So is that why you disappear all the time and how you broke your arm and all the bruises and why you could do the things you do?”

Jason grinned as he pulled her back at arm’s length and looked at her. She had asked all those questions in a rush. But instead of answering them he simply nodded because the answer was the same for all of them. 

“That makes a lot more sense,” Hailey said and looked down. Then she looked at him again. “Does Bruce know?”

Jason frowned a little but then he nodded. 

Hailey frowned too but for a very different reason. Because now she’d sort of guessed what they’d been arguing about. Not that she was certain it had actually happened since she always thought those arguments she heard were sort of dream induced. But if they were, then they were probably arguing about him being Robin. But she couldn’t understand why Bruce would be against it. Wasn’t Robin like a superhero? Wasn’t that a good thing?

“Can I ask you something?” Hailey told him and lay back down. She pulled the blanket to her chin and closed her eyes. 

“What is it?”

“Since you’re Robin,” she said sleepily. “Can you check on Mrs. Suarez? I haven’t seen her since the funeral and I want to know if she still remembers me. You don’t have to. I know it’s stupid. But I kinda miss her.”

Jason squeezed her ankle again. 

“Yeah, I could do that. Now get some sleep, okay?” Jason said with a slight frown. 

“Mmm-hmm.”


	8. Chapter Seven

When Hailey came to, Bruce was sitting in an armchair beside her bed. He was reading something on a tablet with so much concentration that she didn’t think he’d noticed she was awake. Hailey just stared at him without moving from her awkward position. She was laying on her side, her arm pressed between her body and the bed. It was starting to feel like a million ants decided to have a stampede in her arm. She moaned and moved so that she wasn’t on her arm anymore. After a minute, the tingling sensation started to go away replacing the feeling with pain. 

“How are you feeling?” Bruce asked looking at her now. 

Hailey peeked over at him and grimaced. “I don’t want to go back to school.”

Bruce’s eyes shot up at that. He hadn’t really expected her to say anything and especially not say about school. 

“That can be arranged,” he said with a slight nod. “We can have you finish your school year at home. After that, we can talk about whether you want to go back or continue to be homeschooled.”

“What if–what if I go back to my old school?”

“You want to go back to your old school?” Bruce said with a slight frown. Hailey sat up and nodded. Her hands fisted in the blankets. This was the first time she asked him for anything. Bruce sighed feeling like a cold-hearted bastard. Because he couldn’t give her what she wanted. It wasn’t safe. Not yet. Bruce was certain that the man who killed Hailey’s father was also supposed to kill her too. And he wasn’t going to let another one of Hailey’s lives end prematurely. “I’m sorry, Hailey. But that’s not a good idea.”

Hailey squeezed her eyes shut and breathed out slowly. “Okay,” she said quietly. She didn’t ask why. Even though she really wanted to know. Bruce was her guardian so he had the last say. That was how it always was. It was that or get sent away. And if she was sent away would she end up with someone like her stepmom? She was better off with Bruce. “School at home sounds… okay.”

“Hailey, if you need to talk about anything…”

“Um, like what?” Hailey said looking at him uncertainly. She pressed her lips together. And she felt butterflies in her stomach. Was she supposed to say something?

“Regarding what happened at school.”

“No, I don’t want to talk about it,” Hailey said and lay down. She covered herself with her blanket to hide away her nervousness. 

Bruce smiled softly at her action. It was so childish that he couldn’t help being happy that she was actually acting her age. He moved to sit on the bed. 

“You don’t have to talk about it,” Bruce told her. He made to peek under the covers. He lifted a corner slowly until he got a look at one of her eyes. Hailey peered at him for a beat then laughed softly. She lowered the blanket so that only her eyes were visible. Bruce took that to mean that he could continue. “If you’re ever having a hard time with anything, you can talk to me or Dr. Thompkins if you feel more comfortable with her.”

Hailey nodded. Though she already knew that she probably wouldn’t talk to Dr. Thompkins. The woman was a little scary. And Bruce hadn’t really been approachable before. It wasn’t that he hadn’t spoken to her at all since she moved into the manor; it just didn’t happen enough that she felt comfortable opening up to him. The only reason she lived in his home was that he was her foster parent. And she didn’t feel for him what she felt for her late father who she missed terribly. But she already felt like she cared about her new makeshift family. Three generations of men and none of them were blood-related. Or four with Richard. But if she was going to talk to Bruce about anything anytime, she had to start sometime. And he wasn’t angry at her about the school thing. He hadn’t even lectured her. So right that moment seemed good enough for her to start a conversation about something that worried her. Besides, Jason had told her over and over that she could ask for anything and that she should open up more. It was time that she took his advice. 

“Bruce?”

“Hmm?”

“How come Richard hasn’t come back to visit?” Hailey asked carefully. She knew there was some bad blood between the two men. But she didn’t understand it. Especially when she noticed the way they looked at one another when they thought the other wasn’t watching. They really cared about each other. “Is it because of Batman?”

“What?” Bruce asked with raised eyebrows. He had no idea how Hailey had come to that conclusion. Had she overheard them talking about the mission? He didn’t think that was it. 

“It’s because of Batman that you took us in, right? We all lost our parents. And in my case, for whatever reason, he decided you needed to take care of me. Are you tired of having me here? Did you get tired of having Dick around?”

“No,” Bruce said quickly. He reached out for Hailey and drew her onto his lap. “It’s true that you needed protection. But I’m happy to have you here. For as long as you want to be.” He wasn’t looking at Hailey but she craned her neck to look up at him. “Dick... he’s already a grown man. He moved out on his own and makes his own decisions. I don’t always agree with a lot of them. But that doesn't mean that I don't care about him or that I don't want him around. Currently, he’s traveling with his friends and his girlfriend. He’ll come back around when he returns from his travels.” Bruce looked at her and smiled. He moved a lock of her hair behind her ear. “You know, you’ll probably want to do the same when you get older.”

“Travel?” Hailey said and Bruce grunted. “Is it fun to travel?”

“It can be. Depending on where you’re going and what you’re doing.”

“Do you like to travel?”

“Yes.”

Then Hailey’s stomach growled. Bruce smiled at her and stood up balancing her on his hip as if she were a toddler. He was tall enough to make her feel tiny. But she didn’t complain. Or feel weird about it. She still felt a little weak from not having eaten for a few days. 

“Let’s see if Alfred can whip us up an early dinner.”

Hailey tightened her hold on Bruce’s middle with her legs as they made it down the stairs. 

“Can I have something besides broth?”

“Not a big fan?”

“I had a lot of broth already. It was good but I want a hamburger.”

“That’s a little ambitious,” Bruce said with a hint of amusement. “But we’ll find out if that’s doable.”

“Alright. But if it is, I want French fries too.”

Bruce chuckled at that and Hailey beamed. She’d never made Bruce laugh before and it made her feel very happy that this man who was her sort-of dad was starting to like her too. Because she read somewhere that when people laugh at something you say, it wasn't because they considered your words to be funny because there really was no way to decide that certain words are funnier than others. Rather it had more to do with an emphatic response. In other words, their laughter means they like you. Like automatically returning a smile. If someone decides they don’t like you, they don’t reciprocate a smile or laugh even when you’re trying to be funny. 

* * *

“Hailey,” Jason whispered as he slowly made his way into her room in the early hours of the morning.

“Wha-?” Hailey said rubbing the sleep from her eyes and propping herself up off the bed on one elbow.

“I found Mrs. Saurez,” Jason said with a little smile as he sat on her bed cross-legged.

“How is she?” 

“She’s fine,” he told her. “She asked about you. I hadn’t even talked to her yet, she just asked because she remembered that Batman and I were there that night. She seemed a little worried about something." Jason shrugged not knowing what to do with that information. "And she gave me her phone number so that you can call her whenever you want.”

Jason offered up a small piece of paper to Hailey. She took it and unfolded it to see Mrs. Saurez’s handwriting. She smiled widely as she stared at the paper.

“Thank you,” Hailey said emphatically and wrapped her arms around Jason. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

Jason chuckled a little and placing his hand on her face, pushed her away.

“That was way too many thank you’s,” Jason said making Hailey giggle. “Get some more sleep, okay? The sun’s not even up yet you crazy girl. What are you doing up so early?” Jason tsked as if he hadn't been the one to wake her. He got up off her bed and made his way to the door. 

Hailey was laughing and got comfortable again while she held the paper tightly in her little hand. 

As soon as Hailey woke up later that morning, she ran down to the main living area to use the phone. Mrs. Saurez answered the phone as was very happy to hear from Hailey. They chatted for a bit but unfortunately, they had to hang up too soon. Mrs. Saurez had a doctor’s appointment she couldn’t miss but told Hailey to call anytime or to stop by whenever she was in the city. The manor was in Bristol but it wasn’t that far of a drive into the city. The only problem was that Hailey was too young to drive and no matter how nice Bruce had been about everything recently, it didn’t mean he would want to take her to see her old neighbor. Not when he wasn’t too keen on letting her go back to her old school. She would need to figure out a different way to get out to her old neighborhood on her own. 

“Miss Hailey,” Alfred said in surprise when he saw her downstairs. 

“Good morning, Alfred.”

“A good morning indeed,” Alfred told her with a warm smile. “I see you’re feeling much better than in past days.”

Hailey nodded but didn’t say anything.

“Don’t dally about, come to the kitchen and get some breakfast,” Alfred said and made his way back to the kitchen with Hailey following. 

Alfred had only come out to investigate the living area because he’d heard someone talking. He had assumed everyone was still sleeping. He wondered, however, who she was talking to but didn’t dare ask. He didn’t think she would feel happy about being caught sneaking a phone call. Alfred hoped it had been a friend from school. It still hurt him to think about what the girl had been through. Children could be cruel, but to think that Hailey had been a victim of bullying without her opening up to them made his heart ache. Alfred wasn’t sure how to help the young lady. She seemed to open up to Jason the most out of everybody in the household but even he’d had no idea of the happenings at school. 

Bruce had to be firm with him about not confronting any of her classmates. Jason kept his word but that didn’t mean he was happy about what happened to his sister. And he was boycotting school, much to Bruce’s displeasure. Now that Hailey was up and about again, he didn’t have any excuse to stay home. And after much prodding, Bruce forced Jason to go back to school that morning. Alfred drove him with Hailey keeping Jason company in the back seat. On the drive back home, Hailey looked absolutely miserable and there was nothing Alfred could do to remedy the situation.

“Master Bruce informed me that you’ll be finishing the school year at home,” Alfred said as casually as he could.

“Maybe I should just go back,” Hailey said looking down at her lap.

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Alfred asked curiously.

“Yeah, I think so,” Hailey said looking back at the school. “They don’t scare me.”

Alfred smiled at her through the rearview mirror. He felt a surge of pride at her words and determination.

“Perhaps we should inform Master Bruce about the change of plans,” Alfred offered as he made his way back to the manor.

“That and I need to change into my uniform,” Hailey said facing Alfred as she plucked at the pajamas she was still wearing. 

“Very right you are.”

Alfred went straight to the phone to call Bruce when they arrived at the manor. Hailey rushed upstairs to change. As soon as Bruce was on the line, Alfred let him know about Hailey’s decision. Bruce sounded surprised but happy at the turn of events. He promptly hung up on his butler before anything else was said. Alfred frowned at the receiver and placed it back in place.

“What did he say?” Hailey said already dressed in her uniform.

“Well,” Alfred began and Hailey automatically frowned expecting the worst. Alfred didn’t get a chance to say more because the phone rang. “You’ve reached Wayne Manor.”

It was Bruce on the line. He’d called the school to inform them about Hailey’s return. Then he said he’d drop by to take Hailey to school himself. That consisted of Hailey waiting a good twenty minutes until he arrived. He walked her into the school and into the office to speak to the principal. And at the mention of Hailey speaking to the school therapist, she wanted to stand up and walk out of the office. But Bruce lay a hand on her shoulder when it was first suggested. 

“She isn’t going to forced to talk about anything she doesn’t want to talk about, will she?” Bruce asked the principal.

“No, no no,” the principal assured Bruce. “We just want to ensure she feels safe and that she knows she has someone to turn to in confidence should another situation arise. Not that we’re expecting something else to come up.”

The man looked nervous as all heck. And that made Hailey nervous in turn.

“How often would she need to speak to the school therapist?” Bruce asked with a small frown.

“For now, once a week,” the principal informed him. “We’d really appreciate it if Hailey would talk to her now before she heads to class. Would that be okay with you, Hailey?”

“C-can Bruce come with me?” Hailey said. She wasn’t sure why she was nervous about talking to someone. But she couldn’t help think that it was some sort of trap.

“Of course, sweetheart,” the principal said.

Hailey frowned. She wanted to tell him not to call her that. But she tightened her lips instead.

“Mr. Wayne, would you mind?” the principal said and Bruce shook his head. 

Bruce squeezed Hailey’s shoulder. She turned to look at him and he offered a tentative smile. If she didn’t know any better, she would have assumed he was just as nervous as she was about the entire therapist situation.

In the end, it turned out that neither of them had anything to worry about. The initial talk was just to inform Hailey of the therapist’s name and to set up a time and day to meet up. The woman reiterated what the principal told them that Hailey had a safe place to talk if she ever needed to open up about anything. Then she handed Hailey a journal and told her to write in it whatever she could think of that she would like to talk about in their first meeting. After that, Hailey was sent to class. In the hallway outside of the office, Bruce gave her a hug and kiss on the top of her head. Hailey stepped back and smiled at Bruce.

“I’m going to be okay, I promise,” Hailey told him and giggled when he looked surprised to hear that from her. “You were nervous. Like a real dad.”

Bruce smiled. “You’re right. I can’t help it. I feel like a real dad,” he said to reassure her. He knew he could never dare to replace Jasper in Hailey's heart. But he was glad she could think of him in the capacity of a father and not just an authority figure. He tilted his head to the side when she giggled again. He knew right then that she would be okay on her own. “I have a meeting this afternoon but Alfred will be here to pick you up after school.”

“I know,” Hailey said and turned around to make her way to her classroom. She lifted her hand and waved. Without turning around she said, “Bye, dad.”

“See you soon, Hailey, my girl.”


	9. Chapter Eight

When Hailey was informed that she’d be attending a charity event with her family, she had no idea how grand the event would be. She remembered seeing some of these events on the news. Her stepmom always complained about them. Specifically about how rich people threw money at charities as if they actually cared about the cause but they simply showed up to save face within their social circle. When something went horribly wrong at the events, her stepmom would laugh even when the socialites were hurt or died.

Hailey couldn’t help but worry that something would happen during this event. It seemed to be the norm especially if the Wayne name was behind it. She didn’t even want to think about some of the bad guys that could show up. But they were at the forefront of her mind and she couldn’t stop listing their names. Scarecrow. The Penguin. The Riddler. Two-Face. Poison Ivy. Clayface. Killer Croc. The Joker. 

Jason took Hailey’s hand and squeezed it when he caught her expression. They were about to enter the hall right behind Bruce. He pulled her to his side and whispered, “Don’t worry, Robin won’t let anything happen to you.”

Hailey turned to look at him in surprise. She’d forgotten that Jason was Robin while she was contemplating all the possible ways the Wayne family would come to an end at the bidding of the criminally insane. Jason smiled widely and Hailey breathed a sigh of relief. She nodded and squeezed his hand back. She felt a lot better now. Robin had fought those bad guys before. And he would definitely be able to protect her if it came to that. 

Bruce who was walking ahead of them, his body blocking theirs as he made his entrance, looked back at them and nodded at Jason. It was an all-clear sign. Jason nodded back and guided Hailey to Bruce’s side where she was tucked under his arm. Jason stayed to her right and one step behind. They met a few people as soon as they walked in. Most of the attention was on Hailey since it was her first time being exposed to the socialites. Alfred had coached her prior to the event and she was dutifully acting her part. Bruce took the attention away from her making small talk and smiling and laughing in ways that Hailey never expected. Although she’d seen him on TV during interviews before, she’d never seen his public persona in person. But she was smiling right along with him and so was Jason. 

“...and this is our son, Timothy,” Janet said as she introduced him to Hailey and Jason. Bruce was currently speaking to Jack. Timothy smiled brightly and stuck out his hand that Hailey automatically shook. “It’s so nice to finally meet you, Hailey.”

Janet’s smile was fake but not as cold as the others she’d met. 

“It’s nice to meet you too, Mrs. Drake,” Hailey said with a small smile. She was getting tired of smiling. And also felt drained from meeting so many different people.

“Oh dear, just call me Janet,” she said and reached out to touch Hailey’s hair. She smoothed out a stray strand tucking it back into a braid. Hailey’s eyes widened at that. Nobody had touched her. So she hadn’t expected it. “Who did your hair, dear?” Janet whispered and laughed. 

“Um,” Hailey wasn’t sure if she should answer. Janet was probably making fun of her. Hailey had tried to do her hair up in a french braid but couldn’t do it herself. She opted for braiding the sides of her hair in a french braid style until they met in the middle making the two braids into one. Her bangs were poofed up and clipped to the top of her head. Her braids were loose and had a morning-after effect. Since Alfred or Bruce hadn’t said anything about her hair, she figured it looked fine. But now that Janet brought up her hair, it made sense why everyone was staring at her so much. 

Tim looked a little alarmed at the question his mother posed and Jason frowned feeling affronted for Hailey’s sake. 

“It looks nice,” Timothy supplied trying to amend his mother’s faux pas. 

“Thank you?” Hailey said hesitantly. She tried not to take personally but it was really hard not to. Timothy trying to make her feel better really wasn’t helping. It just made her assumptions that more real. Janet  _ had _ been laughing at her.

“It’s beautifully done, dear,” Janet said softly with a tender look in her eyes. She looked at Timothy with a look that made him look down and away nervously. She glanced over at Bruce and seeing that he was still engrossed with her husband she sighed in relief. Then she looked at Hailey and gave her a crooked but honest smile. “That’s why I was asking. I doubt it was, Bruce. I don’t think that man can even tie his own tie.” She laughed at her own joke. “Do you have a hairdresser? I’d love to get together with you and introduce you to mine. We could have a spa day. What do you say?”

She hadn’t meant to insult her, Hailey realized. But now Janet was nervous and that’s why she’d tried to make that joke about Bruce. Maybe if it was another adult in her circle she was talking to they would have laughed at Bruce’s expense. But they were all just kids—two who just happened to be Bruce’s children—and it just made the entire situation that much more awkward than it already was. Hailey looked at Jason for help in answering the question Janet supplied but Jason shrugged helplessly. Neither of them knew if the offer was sincere or if Janet was just trying to find her way out of the hole she’d dug herself into. 

Timothy was mouthing the words spa day with a questionable look at his mother who laughed it off and squeezed his shoulder. 

“I would need to ask?” Hailey said after seeing their interaction. 

“Lovely!” Janet said excitedly and then turned to Bruce to make arrangements.

Hailey and Jason both sighed in relief once Janet’s attention was off of them. 

“I’m so sorry,” Timothy said to Hailey in a hushed polite tone. “I don’t know what got into her.”

“It’s okay,” Hailey said with a reassuring smile. If there was one thing Hailey knew, it was that Timothy wasn’t at fault for whatever his mother said or did. 

“Oh, now I get it,” Jason said with a smirk as he watched Janet gush to Bruce about Hailey. “She’s planning your betrothal as we speak.”

Timothy and Hailey turned to look at him with a horrified look on their faces. Then looked at each other and both shook their heads to reassure one another that Jason was a big fat liar. Jason chuckled. 

“Hey,” Jason said to Timothy suddenly while pointing at him. “I’ve seen you at school. You’re in eighth, right?”

“You know who I am?” Timothy said happily forgetting that Hailey even existed as all his attention turned to Jason. He didn’t even hear Jason’s question. All he heard was that Jason had noticed him at school of all places. He was no one special. Why would Jason notice him?

“Uh, you’re our neighbor. Duh.”

Timothy giggled. That made Jason snort. 

“Neighbor?” Hailey said skeptically to no one in particular. Did that mean she really would have a spa day with Janet Drake? She looked over at the woman. She was already talking to someone else. And so was Jack. But he felt her gaze on him and turned to look at her and then at Jason before he frowned. 

“Tim!” Jack called out reaching out to his son as if he were at arm’s reach and not ten feet away. “Come here. I want you to meet—“

“Sorry but I gotta go,” Tim whispered apologetically before rushing off. 

“He’s got better manners than his parents,” Jason said as he glared at Jack. 

Hailey sighed. It was going to be a long night and it had just begun. 

Bruce separated himself from the man who was talking to him. It seemed like Hailey didn’t have to meet him. And for that she was grateful. He had a creepy vibe to him. She couldn’t help but wonder if it was because he was bald or if he was bald so that people understood on some level that he was a totally creepy jerkface. 

“Bruce Wayne, introduce me to your daughter,” said a redhead as she walked up to him. Bruce smiled at her. A fake smile. He held out his arm so that she would take it as he closed the distance between him and his children. 

Jason grimaced when he saw Vicky Vale walking up to him and Hailey on Bruce’s arm. The woman kept her stories free of hateful rumors but that didn’t excuse the fact that she was always encroaching on their private lives. Jason hated this part of being Bruce’s son. The media and the socialites. Having to endure both on the same night was almost unbearable. He would never get used to this. He didn’t think that Hailey would either. Not by the way she was slowly moving in sync with Vicky’s movements but in the opposite direction. Vicky moved forward and Hailey moved back. Always staying out of hands reach of Vicky who seemed determined to touch her hair or dress. Jesus. The girl wasn’t a plaything. Jason moved carefully so that he was just one step forward and in front of Hailey. His arm blocking hers. Vicky took the hint. 

“She’s so pretty, Bruce,” she gushed. “And she looks so much like your son Jason. Are they related?”

“She’s my sister. Adopted or not, it doesn’t matter,” Jason said careful not to sound too defensive. Then he smiled just for effect. “Family is family, right Bruce?” He’d learned that one from Dick. And now he understood why Dick introduced him as his brother. It said more than what he’d heard back then. It wasn’t just that they were adopted siblings but that he was willing to protect him no matter what. Exactly how he felt about Hailey. And just to further prove the point, he put a hand around Hailey’s shoulder to pull her further away from Vicky.

Bruce was grateful that Jason had jumped in. He hadn’t told Jason that Hailey was a relative of his. The thought hadn’t crossed his mind but now that Vicky had brought it up, he needed to let Jason know before Vicky found out and published her findings. And Bruce knew from experience that Vicky would dig into it. He was going to have to let them both know very soon. 

“I couldn’t have said it better myself, Jay,” Bruce said smiling warmly then he turned to look at Vicky. “If you’ll excuse us, Ms. Vale. We need to make our way up front.”

“Of course, Bruce,” Vicky said with a warm smile. She looked at Hailey fondly and then back to Bruce. “I’ll call your secretary in a few days to set up a formal interview.”

Bruce nodded with a wide smile and gestured to Hailey and Jason for them to follow him. They made their way to the table in front of the stage. Bruce was going to have to talk about the charity. But it wouldn’t take more than ten minutes. Afterwhich, Alfred was to take Hailey and Jason home while he made his rounds to thank the deep pockets who were willing to help Gotham’s less fortunate. It didn’t matter that they only did it for the tax write off or to show face amongst the others. All that mattered to Bruce was that the money was going where it was most needed. Bruce had no doubt that if his parents were alive they’d be doing much the same for the citizens of Gotham.

When Bruce finished his speech, applause erupted in the hall. But it wasn’t the guests. Men in black suits wearing clear masks stood in the back. There were about twenty of them. After having caught everyone’s attention they pulled out automatic weapons and began to fire at the chandeliers. Glass and debris rained down on everyone. 

“Jason!” Bruce called out. 

That was all he had to say. Bruce jumped down off the stage and Jason rushed to his side pulling Hailey along with him. But she was looking back into the crowd seeing something they hadn’t. Everyone was trying to rush out. They didn’t even care about the people who were hurt. People were screaming. The assailants were shooting in the direction of the exits forcing everyone to huddle in the middle. No one was making demands as of yet. But no one was leaving anytime soon. 

Right when Bruce, Jason, and Hailey made it to a side exit hidden behind a decorative tree, Hailey separated from them and ran into the crowd. Bruce was keeping his eyes on the assailants so he didn’t notice her leave. Jason was picking the lock on the door. Once he had it open, he noticed that Hailey wasn’t with them. 

“Bruce! Where’s Hailey?!” he whispered harshly. 

Bruce’s eyes widened and he looked out into the crowd. There was movement near the bar. Janet Drake was passed out on the floor and four hands roughly the size of Tim’s and Hailey’s were pulling her body under a table from behind the table cloth. 

Right when Bruce made his move to go after his daughter, an explosion went off from the floor above. It forced Bruce and Jason to duck behind the door. The exit was sealed off with the two of them outside of the hall. Bruce was not going to be able to get back in the way they got out. 

“No,” Bruce said horrified. 

Jason shouted in frustration. Bruce laid a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. Jason shrugged out of the touch. 

“Goddamit!”

“Master Bruce,” Alfred said into Bruce’s earpiece. 

“I’m here, Alfred.”

“I’m parked in the alley and have a change of clothes for you and Master Jason.”

“Let’s move, now!” Bruce said sternly and Jason nodded. “The sooner we get our gear, the sooner we can get back in.”

“Those assholes are mine!” Jason said as he hurried after Bruce to get to the car.


	10. Chapter Nine

Inside the hall, the crowd was whimpering. A few others stayed quiet. It wasn’t the first time they’d been held as hostages. All they needed to do was stay quiet and do as they were told until help arrived. Except that the assailants hadn’t said a word to any of them. 

“What do you want from us? Why are you keeping us here?” someone from the crowd said. 

From the floor above a screen was lowered down through the hole that was made in the explosion. It had a countdown. They had roughly two hours before the time ran out. Stepping out of the shadows was Catwoman. She smiled at the crowd. And slowly raised her hands. 

“Catwoman! You did this?!”

One of the assailants was pushing her from behind with his automatic assault rifle. She turned to hiss at him and he backed up a step but didn’t lower his weapon. 

“Listen up, folks. These people want your funds,” Catwoman told them ignoring the previous question. Wasn’t it obvious she wasn’t with the idiots? “All of them. Stocks. Bonds. Land. Businesses. And even your firstborn if you’ll let them have it. You have two hours to decide whether your assets or the lives of those you are here to help through the charity are more important. If you choose your assets, all the less fortunate of Gotham will die. If you give up your assets, they live.”

“Please, the choice is easy and already made,” said a woman in her mid-thirties. “Let them die. I’m not giving away—”

On the screen, they showed someone in the narrows being shot on the street. The crowd gasped. Then one of the masked men stepped forward and shot the woman who’d spoken up in the head. Everyone screamed while two of the masked goons dragged the woman away leaving a trail of blood behind. 

“Oops!” Catwoman said a hand hovering an inch from her mouth and eyes wide as she stared at the deceased woman being dragged away. “I forgot to mention that if they die, you die.”

“Why are you here?!” someone asked her. 

“Me? I came for the free food and drinks. But I ran into your party crashers outside instead,” she shrugged. “I was outnumbered.”

“So you’re not with them?”

Catwoman snorted. “Hardly.”

“Who are they working for?” 

Catwoman shrugged. She really had been caught outside trying to sneak in. She was given instructions on what to say over a radio one of the men was carrying. And now she too was a hostage. Sort of. 

Everyone looked at Catwoman skeptically. Then looked around at one another. They had less than two hours left to decide what to do. All they had to do was wait out the clock. They were hopeful that by then help would arrive. With Catwoman already inside, it wouldn’t be long before Batman showed up. 

“Tick-tock, people,” Catwoman said as she freely walked around the crowd and debris. 

The crowd began to whisper to one another. They watched their assailants and turned to look at the clock. Catwoman hadn’t said anything else and the men weren’t talking. They would wait. And if help didn’t arrive, they would die. Because whoever was behind the entire ordeal didn’t deserve a single cent. 

Catwoman was surveying the area and taking stock of those who were there. She made her way to a back table and jumped on top of it before she sat down. She played with her tail that just so happened to be her whip and surreptitiously watched the assailants. The idiots hadn’t disarmed her. Maybe they thought a whip and some claws couldn’t stand up to automatic weapons. But little did they know that if you put a Cat against a man, the Cat always won. Or she gave up one of her lives to fight another day. Either way, they couldn’t hold her hostage for long. 

Tim and Hailey looked at one another when the table they were under jostled. Hailey wrapped her hands around her middle and Tim lifted a finger to his lips. They needed to be quiet. No one had noticed them and he wanted to keep it that way. He looked at his mom and worried his lip. She wasn’t bleeding from anywhere. From what he and Hailey could tell, some debris hit her on the head and knocked her unconscious. She was breathing and her heart was beating normally as far as they knew. Hailey knew how to count the heartbeats. But because she was scared she couldn’t remember how many heartbeats were normal. And she couldn’t compare them to her own because her heart was beating almost as fast as a scared rabbit. 

“Don’t worry, kids,” Catwoman whispered only loud enough for them to hear. “Batman’s on his way. I’m here to get you out as soon as he makes his entrance.”

Tim’s eyes widened and he looked at Hailey and smiled. He was very grateful that she’d run over to help him. Especially now knowing that Batman had sent someone in to get them out. He knew he’d done that specifically for Hailey. But he didn’t mind. Not one bit. They were safe. And his mom would be fine. 

“That’s Catwoman,” Tim whispered. “Everything’ll be alright.”

Hailey nodded then looked down at her wrung hands. Where was Jason? He was supposed to be here already with Batman. Hailey had been counting on it. It was the only reason she dared to run back into the crowd to help Tim with his mom. There was no telling what the men wanted. Killing off the hostages one by one had been a sure bet. And from what they heard, someone was already dead. The only place they found to hide they took. In all the confusion and chaos no one had noticed them. But then again, Catwoman had found them really fast. Hailey looked up and frowned. 

“What’s wrong?” Tim asked looking at Hailey’s expression. 

“How’d she know we were right here?” Hailey said as quietly as possible. Tim struggled to hear her, having to scoot just a little closer until their sides were pressed together. 

“Batman told her?” Tim said quietly with a shrug. He wasn’t sure if Hailey knew that her adopted family happened to be Batman and Robin. How could she not know? 

Hailey nodded. Maybe Jason had made it out. And that meant he had told Batman. She sighed in relief. She was still scared but now she had hope. As soon as Batman arrived, Catwoman would get them out. They would be safe. Soon. Maybe. 

Tim and Hailey couldn’t see what was happening behind the table cloth. But they knew that Catwoman hadn’t moved from her spot. Sirens were heard outside getting closer. Then a spotlight shined through the window. Nobody said anything, not even the men holding them hostage. But there was a collective sigh of relief.

“This is the police,” said a stern voice through a megaphone. “We have the place surrounded. Snipers are set on each and every one of you. Come out with your hands high or we will be forced to fire. We’ll give you two minutes to come out quietly. Do it now!”

Hailey held on to Tim’s hand and closed her eyes tight.

“They didn’t even move,” Catwoman said. 

The table creaked above Hailey and Tim. They looked at one another but then they had to hold Janet down when she started to squirm.

“No, they’re not intimidated in the least,” Catwoman continued to speak.

“Mom, it’s okay, we’re safe,” Tim said quietly close to his mom’s ear. “But you have to be quiet. Please.”

“Tim?” Janet croaked as she looked at her son. He caressed her cheek.

“The police are here,” Tim said softly. “And Batman’s coming. We’ll be okay.”

Janet groaned in pain.

“Are you hurt?” Hailey asked her.

“Just...just a headache. I’ll be fine, dear. Thank you,” Janet said and rubbed her head. “Help me up, Tim.”

“No, mom. Stay still,” Tim told her and held a hand to her shoulder. “We don’t need the ones who did this to know we’re down here.”

“From what I could tell,” Catwoman was heard saying in a low voice. “The cops have a bead on each one of them. Maybe you should wait until they take them out.”

“Who is that?” Janet asked the kids.

“Catwoman,” Tim told her. “I think she’s talking to Batman. He sent her in here to get us out.”

“I suppose, but there was no mention of a bomb. Just the guns. Maybe there are more masked men in the narrows where the guy was shot.”

There was a beat of silence.

“A hoax?” Catwoman said. “No, I didn’t recognize her. So, she was with them? Makes sense. No one seemed to care when she was dragged off.”

“Three, two,” the police on the megaphone counted.

“Everybody get down!” Catwoman shouted and dropped to the ground rolling under the table where Tim and Hailey were. She covered them with her body as the police finished the countdown and fired. The crowd screamed and a few thumps like bodies falling to the ground were heard. Also, a semi-loud explosion was heard making everyone scream again. Then sound like electricity shorting out was heard. The police rushed into the building breaking the windows and making quite a raucous.

“Let’s go, now!” Catwoman said in a hushed tone. She helped Janet up to her feet and ushered the kids into the hallway leading to the bathrooms. Batman and Robin were standing there. There was a hole in the wall next to them leading outside to ensure Catwoman and the kids made it out.

Robin grinned at Hailey then rushed after Batman who was already making his way towards the hall. From the hole that Hailey and Tim and the others came out of, a crowd followed. Paramedics were on standby. Catwoman helped Janet to an ambulance and then left Tim with her. She took Hailey into her arms and ran into an alley were Alfred was waiting. 

“Oh, my dear child. How stupid of you to run back into the fire,” Alfred told her and then wrapped his arms around her holding her tight to his body.

“Tim needed help with his mom. I couldn’t just leave him!” Hailey told Alfred and started to cry. “I was so scared.”

“There, there,” Alfred told her as he caressed her hair. “You did the right thing. You’ll be fine now. Thank the lord.”

Hailey continued to cry but once her sobs died down, Alfred helped her into the car.

“Let’s go home, dear.”

“What about Jason?” Hailey said quickly looking back at the noise and the red and blue flashing lights that could be seen from where they were. “Where’s Bruce?”

“Let’s not worry about those two,” Alfred said shutting the door and making his way into the driver's seat. “Master Jason is with Master Bruce who is a little busy talking to the commissioner about the incident. They’ll be home before you know it.”

Hailey frowned at what Alfred said. Jason was with Batman. Why would Alfred tell her that he was with Bruce? Hailey sniffed and rubbed her eyes. As the car passed the scene, Hailey saw a paramedic helping Tim into an ambulance. His dad was standing back talking to him before the doors were shut and the paramedics drove away.

“I hope Mrs. Drake will be okay,” Hailey said and turned to look at Alfred through the rearview mirror when he asked what she meant. “She got hurt. I think a chandelier or part of the ceiling fell on her head.”

“Oh, my,” Alfred said with a gasp.

“She was unconscious until a few minutes before we made it out,” Hailey said and wrung her hands. “I think they took her to the hospital. Can I-Can I go too?”

“Are you hurt?”

“No,” Hailey said and shook her head. “I just want to make sure she’s okay. And I want to be there with Tim. His dad didn’t go with him to the hospital. Maybe he’s all alone and—”

“Say no more,” Alfred told her and made a u-turn. “We’ll go pay them a visit. I’m certain they’ll appreciate it, dear.”

“Thank you, Alfred.”

Alfred was the one to find out where Janet Drake was being kept. She was still being seen by the doctors in the emergency room. Jack had arrived and was with her but Tim was left behind in the waiting room. Alfred spotted him sitting in a corner chair with his feet up on a chair and an arm wrapped around his knees. He didn’t look worried. Instead, the boy was absorbed with the news report.

“Tim!” Hailey called out and ran up to him.

“H-hailey,” Tim said standing up and running a nervous hand over his slacks as if to straighten them out. “What are you doing here?”

“I saw the ambulance take your mom. Is she okay?” Hailey asked in a hurry and sat down in the seat next to the one Tim had been sitting in previously.

“Yeah, yeah, she’s fine. They’re just taking a CT scan and running some tests to make sure. But she says it’s just a headache,” Tim said and sat down. He wasn’t worried in the slightest.

“Oh, okay,” Hailey said and sighed heavily. She was very relieved to hear that Janet would be okay. Then she turned to look at Tim again. “Do you mind if we stay with you until you get to see her?”

“No, not at all,” Tim said. Then he looked at Alfred and fidgetted nervously. 

Alfred bowed his head and said he was glad to see the young master was doing fine after the horrid ordeal. He asked if either of them needed anything but before they could answer in the negative he said he would go get them something to drink and eat.

“You don’t have to stay,” Tim said politely.

“I know, but I want to keep you company,” Hailey said and wrung her hands. “And if I go home, I’ll just be alone. You don’t mind, right?”

“No,” Tim said and turned to look at the TV again. “They said it was a computer program.”

“What?”

“A computer program. An AI. That’s what attacked the charity. The men in masks weren’t real. They were robots. And so was the woman. The one that was shot.”

“They looked real,” Hailey said skeptically. “The guns were definitely real.”

“Yeah,” Tim said and huffed out an aggravated breath. “Just watch. They’re about to talk to Commissioner Gordon." 

She turned to watch the TV. Commissioner Gordon was talking about what happened. He explained who was behind the attack. An AI developed in S.T.A.R. Labs that took it upon itself to enact a mock trial program meant for game testing into the real world. The press began to ask questions and the commissioner did his best to answer them. But the press was in the belief that there had to be someone who was behind the whole thing. That there was no possible way for an AI to do anything on its own without the creator having programmed it to do so or without the creator’s knowledge. According to the commissioner, further investigation was still ongoing. 

“I bet you it was the bald man,” Hailey said out of the blue.

“What?” Tim said and looked at her curiously.

“There was a creepy bald man at the charity. I saw him talking to Bruce. But when the mask men shot up the place, he was gone,” Hailey told him. 

“Maybe you should tell Mr. Wayne about that,” Tim said hesitantly. 

“Why? You think I might be right,” Hailey said.

“The more they know the better,” Tim said with a shrug. “I don’t remember seeing anyone like that though.”

“Well, Bruce probably won’t take me seriously. I’ll tell Alfred to see if he thinks it’s worth mentioning.”

“What is this you need to run by me then?” Alfred said as he placed a juice bottle in Hailey’s hand with a sandwich he bought at the cafeteria. He gave the same to Tim who thanked him. After Hailey told him what they were saying on the news and what she remembered, Alfred nodded sagely. “That does sound intriguing, Miss Hailey. Perhaps we should take note of the man’s description while it is still fresh in your mind.”

Alfred made his way to the receptionist’s desk to ask for a pen and paper. He would be sure to pass along the information to Bruce as soon as he could. They ended up staying at the hospital with Tim until close to two in the morning when Jack finally entered the waiting room to retrieve his son. He thanked Alfred and Hailey for keeping Tim company and told them Janet was staying overnight for observation due to a concussion. Tim said he’d call them once his mom was home so that they wouldn’t worry needlessly. Alfred thanked him and said his goodnights as he ushered a very sleepy Hailey back to the car. Hailey slept the entire car ride home. When they arrived at the manor, Alfred carried her to bed and tucked her in after removing her shoes. Hailey simply rolled over and buried herself deeper into the covers. Alfred sighed and hurried downstairs to the cave. He needed to let Bruce know what Hailey had told him. Because if he knew something about gut feelings, it was that they were almost never wrong.


	11. Chapter Ten

Alfred woke Hailey in the morning. He told her to get ready and head downstairs. There were a couple of officers waiting to speak with her. He made sure to tell her not to worry because Bruce would be present as well. Hailey nodded and went to the bathroom to clean up. She couldn’t do much with her hair other than letting out the braids and putting it up in a messy top bun. She washed her face and brushed her teeth. Then changed out of her formal wear she fell asleep in and into a comfy house dress before slipping on some flats. Alfred was waiting in the hallway to walk downstairs with her. 

When Hailey walked into the front room where Bruce and the officers were waiting, she noticed that Bruce looked tired as if he hadn’t slept at all as of yet. 

“Dad?” Hailey said hesitantly. Bruce smiled at her softly and held out a hand for her to come closer. They sat down and faced the officers. Bruce introduced them and told her they wanted to show her some pictures to see if she recognized anyone from the benefit. Then he told her that she didn’t have to if she didn’t want to. Hailey shook her head. “I don’t mind.”

“Okay, sweetheart,” said Officer Bullock. Hailey frowned at him. She didn’t like the term especially from someone she didn’t know. “We’re going to show you some pictures. Take your time looking at them and then let us know if you see the man you saw at the charity.”

Hailey nodded. The other officer, Montoya, held up a picture before her. Hailey shook her head. Bullock sighed. 

“Take your time. Get a good look.”

“It’s not him,” Hailey insisted. 

Bullock gestured to Montoya to show the next one. Hailey quickly shook her head as soon as she saw it. When they showed her the third picture, she pointed at it. 

“He was at the charity with his wife. But that’s not the guy I was talking about.”

“Okay,” Bullock said a bit impressed. He took the picture from Montoya and made a note on the back. 

They showed her a couple more before Hailey stood up and walked up to get a closer look at one. This picture was taken at the benefit. It wasn’t a headshot like the others. Hailey noticed part of the banner in the background. But the man at the forefront… she hadn’t forgotten that creepy face or those cold eyes. 

“That’s the creep,” Hailey said to Montoya.

“Are you sure?” Bruce asked her before Bullock or Montoya could. 

“I remember his eyes.”

“Thank you, Hailey,” Montoya said. “This will help us find him.”

“You mean, you haven’t found him yet?”

Bruce stood up and put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay, Hailey. The police are doing everything they can to apprehend him.”

“But, dad, he’ll just change his face.”

“Change his face? What do you mean by that?” Bullock asked her with a frown. 

“Look at the picture. His eyes are set too deep. Like he has extra thick skin. Because he’s wearing a face over the real one.”

“Well, I’ll be…” Bullock said as he looked at the picture. 

Montoya took it from him and then looked up at Hailey. “How’d you notice that?”

“At the charity, I knew there was something creepy about him. And when the news said the bad guys were robots, I kinda started thinking this guy was one too. He wasn’t there anymore when the masked men started shooting. But maybe he was and just took off his face,” Hailey said and shrugged. “So when you showed me the picture, I figured I should take a better look.”

Bruce became very quiet. The officers traded looks. 

“We need to look over that security footage again,” Bullock said and sighed. “Thank you, sweetheart.” Bullock stood up and looked at Bruce. “We’re done here. Thanks for letting us talk to your kid.”

Bruce simply nodded but didn’t answer. 

“Thank you, Mr. Wayne,” Montoya said following Bullock’s lead. She stood up and looked down at Hailey. “We appreciate the help, Hailey.”

Then they were gone. 

Bruce turned to look at Hailey. “Do you remember everyone at the party, Hailey?”

“Um, sort of. I had to talk to a lot of people. So I made it a point to watch everyone there. Just in case.”

“In case of what?”

“I don’t know,” Hailey said pitifully and let out a shuddering breath. Her throat got tight and lumpy. She had a hard time swallowing. When her eyes started to burn, she let the tears fall just to feel some relief. 

“You’re safe now, Hailey. You’re home,” Bruce told her and hugged her. 

“Where were you?” Hailey asked him. Bruce grimaced but didn’t answer. She felt his arms tighten around her. “I was scared that I would never see you again. I’m sorry I ran off. But Tim needed help.”

“Didn’t Alfred tell you? I had some things to take care of since the charity was a Wayne event. It was my responsibility to talk to the police,” Bruce said and pulled her away to look at her. “You did good, Hailey. You scared me too. But I know what it feels like to see someone in need and want to help.”

Hailey nodded and hugged him again. She was glad he wasn’t mad about what she’d done. But she couldn’t help being upset with him for not touching base once she was with Alfred. At the time, it had made her feel like he’d forgotten her and didn’t care. But the way he was holding her now, she thought that maybe she’d been wrong. 

Bruce had breakfast with her before excusing himself to his den. Hailey understood that he had work to do. And so she retreated into her room. It was a few hours later that Jason knocked twice and entered without waiting for her to say come in or anything.

“Get up,” Jason ordered and pointed at her tennis shoes. “We’re going for a run.”

“Isn’t it kinda late?” Hailey said looking out the window closing her notebook. It was afternoon and it was the warmest part of the day.

“What? You’re afraid of a little sun?” Jason teased and made his way back to the door. “Hurry it up, slowpoke.”

Haley rolled her eyes and after putting on her shoes raced Jason out the door and down the trail they normally took when he took her out for a run. When they made it back to the manor, Jason didn’t let her go inside. Instead, he took her out back and told her he wanted to show her something. That something was a few lessons in self-defense. He told her that if she was going to play hero, she needed a few skills up her sleeves. The first lesson was to teach her to get out of a hold. The second was to land a hit that would allow her to get away from her attackers. The third was to teach her how to get sick in case the first two didn’t pan out. 

“You want me to throw up?” Hailey said making a face.

“Hey, it works,” Jason said. “No one is going to take a kid that’s spewing chunks all over them.”

Hailey sighed and heard Jason out but refused to actually stick her finger down her throat unless she was in dire danger. Besides, Jason was probably just messing with her. Regardless, she practiced over and over again until Alfred called them inside for dinner. Jason told her he would teach her more once she got the first two lessons down pat.

After dinner, Hailey received a phone call from Tim Drake. Jason made fun of her but she ignored him. She figured that Tim was only calling to give her an update about his mother. Janet Drake was released from the hospital with a clean bill of health. According to Tim, his father had taken her to a hotel upstate for her to relax after the traumatizing ordeal. Hailey thought it was weird but Tim said that his parents were a bit over the top about things. He wasn’t going with them because of school. Hailey didn’t question it. And since neither of them had anything else to talk about other than her talking to the police, they said their goodbyes.

A week later, more or less, the man who had enacted the attack at the benefit using robots was apprehended by Batman and turned in. The man was a scientist named Thomas O. Morrow. Bruce told Hailey as he read the morning paper that he wouldn’t have been caught if it wasn’t for her help. Hailey didn’t think that was true but she appreciated the sentiment and the guarantee that when Thomas finally faced his day in court, she wouldn’t be needed to testify since they had plenty of evidence stacked against the man. Jason muttered under his breath that she was lucky that the press hadn’t gotten wind of her involvement. Alfred and Bruce both agreed with him though they didn’t express their thoughts aloud simply made eye-contact and nodded at one another. The gesture hadn’t escaped Hailey’s noticed and she hunched in on herself trying to disappear. Luckily for her, Jason changed the subject reminding Bruce of the Knights game he’d promised to get tickets for so that the three of them could attend that weekend.

* * *

The wind was howling. It was loud and it almost sounded like words being shouted. Angry, bitter words from a son to a father. Hailey whimpered and snuggled deeper into the blankets. She wanted the wind to stop. She wanted the words to be fake. But they were telling. She whimpered and tossed in bed in a half-sleep half-awake state. 

“There’s no point talking to you! You’ve already made up your mind!” 

Jason. That was Jason’s voice. Hailey didn’t understand why she’d heard Jason. And his words, however painful, didn’t make any sense to her. 

Hailey whimpered a little louder. Loud enough to be heard by whoever was in the hallway.

The howling stopped but a branch scraped against Hailey’s window. Not that Hailey was aware that the noise she heard hadn’t been what her dream made her believe was real. The true source of the sound was her door creaking open. 

The bedroom door was closed as softly as possible. In her dream induced mind, the sound was amplified and distorted to sound like booming thunder. Hailey sat up with a gasp. She was suddenly wide awake. 

Jason was in her room. His eyes glistened in the moonlight that peeked in between the curtains. 

“Jason, what’s wrong?” Hailey asked shakily, fear in her voice. 

“Scoot over,” Jason told her and climbed into her bed once she had. He didn’t get under the covers, instead, he’d pushed them aside. He laid on his side and stared at her but wasn’t really looking at her. 

Hailey tightened her fists and blinked. Rapidly. Trying desperately to keep the tears in her eyes. Hadn’t Bruce just told her not too long ago that he wanted them? All of them. Didn’t Jason know that? She didn’t understand what had happened to make Jason so sad. 

Hailey hadn’t realized she spoke her thought aloud until Jason sighed. 

“Bruce doesn’t want me to be Robin anymore,” Jason said still staring into the void. 

“Why?”

“He thinks I want to kill people.”

“Do you-do you want to kill people?” Hailey asked uncertainly. She didn’t think the answer was true but something deep in the pit of her stomach coiled and shouted at her that it was. 

Now Jason was looking right at her. 

“Yes,” he said angrily. “The scum who hurt people deserve to die.”

Hailey didn’t answer. She wasn’t sure if she should agree or disagree. People died all the time she reasoned to herself before she opened her mouth to speak.

“Does it really matter how someone dies? Once they’re gone, they're gone.”

“Yeah,” Jason said quietly. “So if an idiot falls off a roof, what does it matter?”

“It doesn’t,” Hailey said not having a clue what they were really talking about. “He would’ve died anyway. Some other way. Everybody dies.”

“Yeah,” Jason said and swallowed hard. 

“I should’ve died,” Hailey said and closed her eyes. 

“What?” Jason said reaching out to her but pulling his hand back before he made contact. 

“I don’t remember my mom,” Hailey said opening her eyes. But she wasn’t looking at Jason. She was looking past his shoulder at a shadow that moved on her wall. A tree branch that swayed in the wind. “She died when I was six. A lot of people died. But not me.”

Jason stayed very still and quiet. He knew what had happened to her when she was a kid. He’d looked her up when she first moved into the manor. Bruce hadn’t told him anything about her. And he hadn’t given him a reason as to why he’d taken her in. But Jason thought there had been a bigger reason other than that of her dad being killed in front of her eyes. No matter what he’d uncovered about her, he still didn’t know why Bruce had taken her in. Or how Dick knew who she was before he met her. Not that Dick admitted he did. No matter what it was they were holding back, Jason was happy Bruce had taken her in. He liked having a little sister. 

“My stepmom told me that there was a huge accident because of a snow storm. My parents died instantly but I didn’t because I was thrown from the car. She said it was the impact and momentum that chucked me out the window. And that there was another car with a family. The youngest—a little boy two years younger than me—was also thrown from the vehicle. She said it was weird that neither of us had a scratch on us. The difference between me and him was that he was missing an eye. He died before help arrived. Internal bleeding she’d said. His family suffered. They were trapped in their car and burned to death. 

“My stepmom said it was weird that I survived. That there was something wrong with me. That I should’ve died like that little boy. I think about that a lot. And sometimes I think I did die. Because I don’t remember anything from before the accident. So I think that maybe that’s what being dead is like. No memories. Like maybe they’re stolen from you." Hailey paused as if she was thinking back about something then sighed. “And if they are, the people who die forget everything. So when you’re dead good people and bad people are the same. No one is good. No one is bad. No one has memories. No one has feelings. It’s just quiet. Peaceful.”

Hailey looked at him then. 

“The man who killed my dad,” Hailey said angrily. “I hope he never dies.”

Jason frowned at her. He didn’t understand why she would say that. If it was his dad, he’d want to kill the son of a bitch who did it. He had wanted that. But Bruce had talked him out of it. Two-Face was serving time in Arkham. Jason didn’t think that was enough. His need for vengeance in that respect had waned though. Two-Face wasn’t worth thinking about. And it was his dad’s fault for working for that psycho. But Hailey’s dad hadn’t done anything to deserve what he’d gotten. Why wouldn’t she want the man who killed her father to pay for what he’d done?

“If he dies, he’ll be able to have that peace. He doesn’t deserve any peace.”

_ Holy fuck _ , Jason thought.  _ That’s a twisted sort of revenge.  _ Though  Jason was glad she felt avenged in her own way. 

“I get it,” Jason told her but he didn’t think she was right. He believed in heaven and hell. The bad people didn’t get peace. They suffered in hell when they were dead. It was what they deserved. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply before letting out his breath in a rush. “Hailey there are some people that don’t stop at hurting just one person because not even the law can stop them. Those people don’t deserve to keep living. Because if they do, they’ll hurt everyone within their reach.”

Hailey didn’t answer. She wasn’t sure what Jason was talking about. But if he believed that certain people deserved to be dead, then maybe they did. 

“You think I’m wrong?” Jason asked feeling defensive. 

Hailey shook her head. “I believe you.”

But that didn’t mean she completely agreed. 

“It’s the only way that it could possibly work,” Jason said. He needed someone on his side. 

Hailey reached out tentatively to take his hand in hers. 

“If I were to kill one of those monsters, would you hate me?”

“No,” Hailey said quickly and closed her eyes. 

“I wanted to kill him, Hailey.”

She looked at him and squeezed his hand tighter. 

“If you knew what he did, maybe you’d agree with me that it was for the better that he died.”

“I don’t want to know what he did.”

“I wasn’t going to tell you. I wish I didn’t know. That I hadn’t seen.”

Hailey could almost taste his anguish and a tear slipped from her eye. 

“Then it’s a good thing he’s dead,” she said quietly. 

“Yeah,” Jason said and sighed. He didn’t know why hearing her say that was so important to him, but it was. 

The only problem was that there was more than one monster in the world. 

Once Hailey’s breathing evened out, Jason slipped out of her room and headed to his own. He knew he wasn’t going to get any sleep. Bruce had taken Robin from him. If only Bruce would listen. If he could only see the truth. Why did he have to be so self-righteous all the goddamn time?


	12. Chapter Eleven

The following morning, neither Bruce nor Jason had come down for breakfast. Alfred mentioned that Bruce was called away on business but he was worried about Jason. Though Hailey hardly knew Jason’s whereabouts it seemed like Alfred was usually on top of it except for that particular day. He resorted to asking Hailey if she knew of any plans he had. Hailey simply shook her head. The truth was, she had absolutely no idea. 

At school, Hailey tried to say hello to Tim who she ran into in the entrance near the lockers. But Tim didn’t see her. He seemed to be lost in thought about something. The last time she’d spoken to him was when he’d called to tell her his mother was fine. And so Hailey had no idea what was going on with him. She’d only started to say hello to him since the ordeal at the benefit but they weren’t exactly friends. And they didn’t talk to one another. Not because they chose not to do so. It was due to the fact that he was three grades ahead of her in school. This meant that his classrooms were on different floors than her own and even their lunch period was a different hour. Regardless of all that, Hailey didn't have to worry about Tim. She had her mind on Jason the entire day. She’d had the most horrid thought about their conversation the night before and she really hoped that it didn’t come to pass. 

The first thing Hailey did when Alfred picked her up from school was to ask about Jason. She felt her stomach drop when he told her there had been no word on the young master all day. So she almost screamed in surprise when she walked into her bedroom and Jason was sitting on her bed waiting for her. Jason raised his hands to his lips before she blew his cover and Hailey covered her mouth while nodding in acquiescence. 

“Where were you?” Hailey asked in a harsh whisper as she approached the bed. “I thought you’d run away.”

Jason grimaced and looked away guiltily. “I just had to clear my head. But I ran into an old neighbor. She told me that she kept some of my family’s belongings,” Jason said and produced a piece of paper to show her. “That’s my birth certificate. I found it with everything else. It’s water damaged and all you can see is the first letter of my mother’s name. I thought Catherine was my mother. But I was wrong. I have a different mother than the woman who raised me. Hailey, what if she’s still alive? I have to find her.”

“But how will you find her? All you know is that her name begins with the letter ‘S’. That could be anyone,” Hailey said looking at the birth certificate. The name wasn’t legible. It wasn’t even possible to make out anything from the ink smear at all. 

“I narrowed it down to three women that were listed in my father’s address book. I know where they are. I’m going to track them down to find my real mother,” Jason told her and took her hand is his. “I need to find my real mom. You understand, don’t you?”

Hailey nodded but she couldn’t help tearing up. 

“Yeah, I get it.”

Jason smiled widely. He was happy that she understood. He didn’t like that he was leaving her behind. But Alfred and Bruce would take good care of her on the off chance that he actually found his mother and she wanted to be a family. He wiped Hailey’s tears away carefully and leaned his forehead on hers. 

“Wish me luck, sister,” Jason told her. 

“Good luck, brother.”

Jason chuckled and jumped off the bed. He grabbed a bag from the floor and made his way to the window. 

“Eat enough for the both of us until I get back,” Jason said as he opened the window. 

“But then I’ll be as big as a house the next time you see me,” Hailey protested. 

“Hey, that’ll just give us the excuse to force you to go out running with me when I get back.”

Hailey smiled widely at that comment. It meant that Jason was planning to come back. That they’d still be brother and sister when he did. And that he was going to keep spending time with her. Hailey hadn’t realized it until right then that she truly enjoyed running with Jason. And she was looking forward to him coming back so that they could do it again. Jason waved goodbye and was gone. 

When Alfred served dinner that evening, he looked crestfallen at the empty seat that Jason normally occupied. She almost broke and told him that Jason had been by earlier. But she had to give Jason time so that he could get far enough away before Alfred or Bruce found out about his escapade. Hailey decided she would wait until morning to tell Alfred what Jason was up to. Her eyes drifted to Bruce’s seat. Hailey couldn’t help wonder where Bruce had gone. Why was he staying away? Before she went to bed that night, Alfred announced that Master Bruce had taken an emergency trip overseas and would probably take close to a week to wrap up his business before his return. 

“Alfred, are you sure he’s coming back?” Hailey asked uncertainly. 

“Of course, dear child. Why would you believe otherwise?”

“It’s just weird that he left without saying goodbye. I mean, if he was going to be gone for so long…” Hailey couldn’t find the words to express what she meant. But she couldn’t help but cry. Jason leaving to find his real mother had already been hard to swallow. But he’d said goodbye because he was planning to come back. But Bruce, he didn’t even bother. Hailey swiped at her eyes angrily. 

Alfred placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “I know you’re worried about Jason. Believe me, this old man can’t help but worry either. However, I know the boy will be perfectly fine and will return promptly,” Alfred promised. “As for Master Bruce, I’m certain he didn’t mean to leave without a proper goodbye. He simply becomes so wrapped up in his work that he forgets he needs to make time for the other people in his life. He will be back and he will apologize for being so ill-mannered, mark my words.”

As Alfred walked away, Hailey could hear him muttering about Bruce being raised with proper etiquette and that his parents would be appalled by his recent behavior. She was so shocked at hearing Alfred speak about Bruce that way that she stopped crying to stare after the man in shock. She’d thought Alfred only had the highest praise for Bruce. But it seemed even Alfred knew that Bruce wasn’t infallible. 

On the drive to school the following day, Alfred informed Hailey that Jason had left a note behind explaining that he’d gone off in search of his birth mother. And by the look he directed at her, it seemed he figured out that Hailey was already in the know of that information but refrained in saying as much. But he continued by saying that he’d informed Master Bruce who said he would look for him. 

Two days later, Bruce had finally caught up with Jason in Lebanon of all places. Bruce had called to speak with Alfred but spoke to Hailey as well. He apologized for not having told her that he was leaving but that something urgent had come up. Hailey said she understood. She was just happy to have heard from him. But then what he told her next left her speechless. Not only were he and Jason searching for his mother together but he told her that she and Jason were actually blood relatives.

“He’s my  _ cousin _ ?” Hailey said finding her voice. Though it was small and it squeaked.

“Yes, he’s your third cous—” Bruce was saying when there was sudden static over the phone.

“Just ignore him, you’re my sister,” Jason said and she could hear the grin in his voice. “My  _ real _ sister.”

“Yeah,” Hailey breathed softly then giggled. “Now it makes more sense why everyone kept saying we looked like each other.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jason said distractedly. He probably hadn’t even thought about that at all. “Truthfully, I thought they were full of shit.”

“Jason, language,” Hailey heard Bruce say not too far away.

“How’s your hunt for your mom going?” Hailey said carefully.

“Well, I knocked one name off my list. We’re actually going to meet the second today. If that doesn’t pan out, there’s only one more person to track down and we already know where she is so it shouldn’t be too long now before we’re heading back home.”

“Really?” Hailey said with so much hope it was practically visible on the other end of the line.

“Yeah,” Jason said and sounded happy again. “Definitely.”

...

Jason had been wrong. So very very wrong. 

Bruce did return with Jason. But not for them to live happily ever after. It was quite the opposite. Jason was dead and all that was left for Hailey and Bruce and Alfred was to live mournfully for the time being. Just like after her father had died. Though she’d lived with Jasper for five years, she’d been closer with Jason than she had been with her father so Jason’s death hurt a lot more. But she knew it wasn’t going to hurt so damn much with time. And even though she knew that it didn’t make her feel any better. So she didn’t come down to eat. She didn’t want to leave her room. Or her bed. Because she was so angry. Angry that Jason was dead. Angry that Richard didn’t come home. Angry that it rained on their way home from the funeral grounds but that the sun shone brightly as Jason’s coffin was being lowered into the ground. Angry that Alfred was fucking cooking and bringing her food to her room. And angry that Bruce hadn’t said two words to her since he returned. Hailey screamed into her pillow until her voice was raw and then she was just sobbing. The sound of the thunderstorm raging outside drowned out her misery. 

Hailey woke with a headache. There was a new tray of food by her bed. She ignored it and went to the bathroom. She showered, brushed her teeth, pulled her hair into a bun even though it was still wet, and dressed for school. It had been three days since Bruce returned. The funeral had been the day before. But she couldn’t stay in her room anymore. She didn’t want to accidentally run into Bruce just so that he would ignore her. And she was already all cried out. And even though her heart ached and her body was numb, her fucking mind was sharp and it was thinking useless things that she didn’t want to think. So she decided that she would go to school and listen to the mindless drivel there. Hopefully, she wouldn’t have to think about shit that was driving her crazy anymore. She grabbed her tray of food and walked down to the kitchen. Alfred was there drinking tea. He looked up at her with sad, tired eyes. Hailey set her tray down on the table and sat down. Mechanically she began to eat. The food tasted like ash. And it was hard to swallow it down past the lump in her throat. But she managed. When she was finished, she took her dishes to the sink and walked up to Alfred. She gave him a hug.

“Oh, dear child,” Alfred said and wept into her shoulder. But Hailey didn’t weep. She would do that later when she was alone in her room. Alfred released her and wiped his face with a handkerchief attempting to look proper once more though that shipped had passed since Bruce uttered the words, 'Jason is dead.' 

“Why are you dressed for school?”

“I can’t stay here, Alfred. I need to go to school,” Hailey said looking right at him determinedly.

Alfred nodded and stood up taking her shoulder with a shaky hand. “I’ll drive you. It will give me something to do. But please, child, if you need to come right back do give us a call.”

“Okay,” Hailey said and nodded. “I will.”

Hailey didn’t even bother going to her locker. She went straight to her first class and sat down. She didn’t notice anyone. She didn’t hear a thing her teacher said. And she didn’t hear the bell ring. But she felt a hand on her arm as she was led to the office. She was made to sit in the therapist's room. But she didn’t speak. She just sat still and waited. For what? She didn't know. 

Bruce showed up sometime later and carefully pulled Hailey to her feet. 

“Let’s go home,” Bruce told her and her eyes teared up.

“Okay,” Hailey told him and followed him out. His hand was resting on her back the entire way to the car. Alfred was sitting in the driver's seat 

“How is she?” Alfred asked tentatively as he looked back at her through the rearview mirror. 

“She’s mourning,” Bruce said and allowed Hailey to cry as he pressed her to his side. “Just like we are, old friend.”

“I shouldn’t have allowed her to attend school,” Alfred said and cleared his throat. 

“No, I believe it was good that she tried,” Bruce told him. “But maybe it’s best to keep her home tomorrow.”

“Of course, sir,” Alfred said as if the idea had been his and not Bruce’s. 

It would have made Jason laugh but Jason was dead and couldn’t hear Alfred from where he was. Hailey sighed and wiped her eyes. She remembered that Jason was at peace. With that thought, her mind settled and her weary body claimed sleep. And she didn’t have a choice but to oblige. 


	13. Chapter Twelve

Hailey felt confined in the manor. Not even her room brought her solace. She wandered the grounds until she didn’t have the strength to continue. This practice extended day in and day out. She’d buckle down and cried sometimes leaning her back on a tree or the wall at the edge of the property when her strength waned. She always made it back to the manor in time for meals. She didn’t want to worry Alfred. He was clearly hurting. 

A few times her legs carried her to Jason’s gravesite. She’d kneel there and just stare at his name. Sheila Haywood’s grave was right beside it. Jason’s mother. Hailey hadn’t heard the story. She didn’t know how Jason died. Or why it was his mother had been buried beside him. She was sure they told her but at the time all she heard was white noise after the words: Jason’s dead. Now she was curious but couldn’t bring herself to ask. 

Bruce managed to go out of town once again without notifying Hailey. When Alfred told her he was in DC, he was angry. He seemed to be angry at Bruce a lot in the aftermath of Jason’s death. 

Bruce wasn’t okay. He was angry and he didn’t know what to do with his anger. To add insult to injury, he wouldn’t look at Hailey. She thought he would finally talk to her after the incident at school but that break in his behavior had been short-lived. As soon as Hailey was back in the manor, he’d disappeared like usual. Work never ended for Bruce. Not even in the wake of his son’s death. Or maybe, like Alfred’s cooking and her attempt at going to school, Bruce was trying to stay busy. Hailey couldn’t begrudge him that. But now he was gone and Hailey couldn’t help but worry. 

When Bruce returned to the manor from his trip, he had a broken arm and he was even angrier than he was before he went out of town. Hailey kept her distance. She didn’t bother to ask and Alfred didn’t bother to tell her about Bruce’s whereabouts or whatabouts. 

Hailey went back to school and forced herself to pay attention, to do her schoolwork, and to avoid the worried glances her teachers sent her way. She ignored the pitying looks directed at her from her classmates. She even managed to ignore Tim who tried to offer condolences. But before he completely walked away, Hailey called out to him after his demeanor registered in her mind. When he turned around, she rushed up to him and hugged him. 

Tim had no idea what to do other than awkwardly lay a hand on her upper back and pat it a few times before Hailey backed away. They stood there awkwardly without knowing what to say to one another. In order to break the pause, she asked about his mom. He told her his parents were out of town but that they were both great. It seemed like his words were scripted. It dawned on her that they actually had something in common. He was often left alone. Now that Jason wasn’t around, she was certain that she would be too on more occasions than not. Even Alfred made himself scarce more now than before but she knew he was somewhere in the manor. She wondered if Tim had a butler that looked after him too. But she didn’t dwell too much on the thought. 

The news on Batman had been getting increasingly worrisome as of late but on a lighter note, crime was down. Or so said the newscaster. Seemed like the new no holds bar approach of Batman turning in any and every goon that crossed his path was filling up the jail cells beyond capacity and were having to be moved to others in neighboring cities. Some bad guys turned tail and got out of town in an attempt to escape the Bat. Either that or they’d gone into hiding. Not even the psychos in Arkham tried to escape while Batman was on the rampage. Especially with the news that he’d left the Joker in a full-body cast. 

Hailey frowned at that bit of news. Batman was a hero who protected those who couldn’t protect themselves but he’d become more and more violent. Even people who hadn’t broken the law were afraid of him. Then she’d heard it, the reason why the Joker had been left on the brink of death instead of receiving an apt end for the monster. Superman had stepped in and stopped the assault Batman had unleashed on the Joker. The reason behind the assault was that the Joker claimed he’d killed Robin. 

Hailey’s heart sunk when she heard that. Jason had been Robin. Batman was on the verge of losing it because he’d lost Robin to a madman. The very one that Batman had let live on countless occasions past. Hadn’t Jason been promoting the idea of ending the lives of men who would never stop hurting others? Hailey finally understood what he meant. Because of the fact that the Joker was allowed to live, Jason was dead. Hailey cried at the injustice of it all. 

On Sunday morning as Hailey came downstairs, she spotted Richard walking into the manor. With a mad dash, while his back was still to her, she rushed him. He barely turned around in time before she was pummeling his chest with her fisted hands in a weak attempt to punish him. 

“Why weren’t you here? Jason died! And you weren’t here! Don’t you care about us? He was your brother?”

Her voice cracked as she spoke. The words were weak even to her own ears. She felt so very tired. Not as angry as she thought she should feel she just felt so wretched. She ended up corralled in his arms. He was caressing her hair and back while she muffled meaningless words into his abdomen. 

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Dick told her in a hushed voice. Then suddenly his hands stopped moving. His body went rigid and Hailey was only able to look up at him to see the rage in his features. 

“Dick,” Bruce said from behind her. 

Hailey gasped and craned her neck to see him. She hadn’t even known Bruce was there. She hadn’t seen him in days. He looked haggard. Unshaven. Bruised. 

“How could you?!” Dick said and placed his hands on Hailey’s shoulders to steady himself and temper his anger. “I had to learn about...Jason,” his voice dropped and sounded choked, “from the news. The news, Bruce!”

“You were busy… I didn’t think,” Bruce sighed heavily. "It was best to wait."

“No! It wasn’t best to wait! I could’ve dropped everything and come back! How dare you make that call for me!”

“Dick—“

“If I would’ve been there—!”

“Master Dick,” Alfred said loudly but firmly interrupting both men who were trying to talk over each other. “Please, release the child.”

“The chi—?” He looked down at what he was holding. “Oh, Hailey. My god. I’m so sorry,” Dick said and hugged her again but his vice grip had loosened. 

Hailey hugged him back. He hadn’t known. Bruce didn’t tell him. “ _ I’m _ sorry. I thought you knew. That you just didn’t care.”

“Don’t apologize,” Dick told her. He caressed her hair and looked at her. “You don’t have anything to apologize for.” He gently nudged her in Alfred’s direction and then glared at Bruce. 

“Let’s go into my office,” Bruce said looking at Hailey then Alfred. He sighed and walked away. 

Dick followed after him. He was fuming and his fists were tight at his sides. He wanted to deck Bruce for being a cold-hearted bastard. 

A few minutes later, Dick was searching for Hailey. He found her in the kitchen with Alfred. She was nursing a cup of tea and was staring at nothing.

“Hailey,” Dick called to her and she turned to look at him expectedly. “I’m going to pay my respects to Jason, do you want to join me?”

Hailey nodded and jumped up. She looked at Alfred but he simply shooed her away. Dick hadn’t said anything to him. It didn’t seem like Alfred wanted to speak with Dick either. Hailey hurried to Dick’s side and he took her by the hand to lead her out the door. As they made their way, Hailey noticed that Dick’s knuckles were raw.

“What happened to your hand?” Hailey said squeezing Dick’s hand. 

He didn’t even flinch. Instead, he lifted their joined hands to inspect it as if he was noticing the damage for the first time. “I punched Bruce in the face.”

Hailey looked at him worriedly. Did that mean Dick was going to stay away from the manor if he was mad at Bruce? She didn’t want him to leave and not come back. She didn’t want to lose another brother.

“Are you going to forgive him?” Hailey asked looking up ahead. 

“Eventually,” Dick said and sighed heavily.

“What about Alfred?” Hailey said and this time she did look at Dick. “Will you forgive him too?”

“Yes,” Dick said looking down at her and smirked. Though the visage was halfhearted. “But not until tomorrow.”

Hailey let out a sound that was part chuckle part sob. “Good.” Hailey looked ahead again. “Because Alfred… he’s not doing so well. He’s mad at Bruce too.”

“How are you doing?” Dick asked her and she merely shrugged. “Do you need to talk about it?”

“About the hurt?” Hailey said insipidly. “Not really. I know the drill.”

“Yeah,” Dick said and wiped his eyes. Unfortunately, he knew about loss all too well. He didn’t want to talk about it either but he appreciated the company.

* * *

It had been a couple of months since Jason’s death and Bruce was looking worse for wear. Hailey hardly saw him at all anymore. Alfred and Bruce would argue anytime they were in the same room together. Hailey had had enough. She knew better than to get on Bruce’s bad side. He’d had an extremely short temper as of late. So she decided that instead of talking to Bruce, she’d invite him out for a run. She figured there’d be no harm in that. But Bruce usually slept in all morning on the weekends. She waited until after lunch to grab a book and sneak into Bruce’s bedroom. 

He was tangled in the sheets. From all Hailey noticed, he was shirtless and covered in bruises and bandages. The part of his leg that stuck out of the sheets was covered in some sort of grey legging pants. She snorted at that and sat in the armchair in the corner of the room. She snuggled in with her feet curled and began to read. 

It wasn’t long before Bruce began to stir. He rubbed his face and groaned as he began to sit up. It was then that he noticed Hailey sitting in the armchair engrossed in a book. 

“Hailey,” Bruce said roughly. She looked up at him. “Why are you in my room?”

“I was waiting for you to wake up.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to know if you’d go on a run with me.”

“Not today.”

“Yes, today,” Hailey said stubbornly. 

Bruce glared at her. 

“As grateful as I am that you took me in and that you’re not a horrible human being that likes to abuse minors, I have to insist that you spend some quality time with me because neglect is still abuse.”

“Hailey—”

“All I’m asking for is a run. That’s it. I’ll be waiting for you downstairs in ten minutes. If you don’t show up, I’ll use the communicator Robin gave me to contact the Teen Titans and report you for neglect.”

“Who gave you what?” Bruce said in a growl. 

Hailey showed it to him ignoring the aggression he was exuding. Her finger sat next to a button. She had no idea what the button did and Jason hadn’t exactly given her the communicator. She found it in on the bookshelf of his room. It had a bold letter T on the face and it didn’t take a supergenius to know what the fuck it was. Especially when there was a handy instruction note—that she didn’t read—with it that was signed: -N. She figured that meant Nightwing since the Teen Titans were on the news on occasion and there was only one hero whose alias began with the letter N.

“I’m sad too, you know. But that doesn’t mean we drop everything just because we miss him. So get dressed. You have ten minutes. I’m not bluffing.”

Bruce had looked away. Hailey didn’t wait for a response. She got up and walked to the door. She hovered in the doorway for a moment. 

“Nine minutes, forty seconds and counting,” she said and then kept moving into the hall away from the bedroom. 

Bruce let out a drawn-out sigh and got up. 

“Hnh.”

Bruce made it to the entryway right on time. He was wearing shorts and a muscle shirt. Hailey wanted to smile at how dorky he looked but she couldn’t do anything other than look surprised. 

“I was actually bluffing. I don’t even think that thing does anything,” she said pointing to the communicator that was on top of a side table near the door. 

“Well, shall we go,” Bruce said as he gestured to the door. Hailey nodded. “Hailey, keep that close to you. It does work.”

“How do  _ you _ know?” she said as she walked out the front door.

“The R&D department at Wayne Enterprises created the device.”

“Huh.”

“Hnh.”

They silently stretched out in the front yard before they headed out on a familiar path. They ran, Bruce keeping a few steps behind, and the only sound accompanying them was the sound of their feet and their breathing. After they’d been running for about three miles, Bruce frowned. Hailey hadn’t slowed down or shown signs of being tired. 

“How far are we going?” Bruce asked. 

“Just a couple more miles,” Hailey said and looked back. Her face was glistening in sweat but her breathing wasn’t labored. “We can run faster on the way back if you want. It’s the same path Jason always made me take.”

Hailey was looking straight ahead so she didn’t see the hurt look that crossed Bruce’s face at the sound of the boy’s name. 

“Afterwards, we’d pig out,” Hailey said and chuckled. “It’s not the same without him, is it?”

Bruce didn’t respond. 

“Sorry.”

“For what?”

“Talking too much.”

Before Bruce could tell her anything she picked up her pace. It was when a drop of water hit Bruce on the arm that he realized that Hailey’s face hadn’t been glistening with sweat. She’d been crying. Probably harder now that she’d mentioned Jason. Bruce had no idea that his death had hit her so hard. It was true that the two of them got along with each other but Hailey didn’t seem like she took to Jason. He was the one who did most of the talking. It was like that with him too, Bruce realized. 

Without Jason around, the manor was too quiet. Being home was almost unbearable to him. Hailey had been suffering more than he’d realized. Alfred had tried to point it out to him but he had other things on his mind at the time. Now he knew that he had to make time for her. Though he wasn’t sure if he would be able to do that. Or if it would help her in any way. 

The run had been a good idea. Bruce was glad that she’d asked him to join her. He picked up his pace and ran next to Hailey. She’d wiped her face and looked over at him. When he didn’t turn to look at her, she smiled and ran a little faster. She wanted to be in the lead. Bruce noticed and decided that if she wanted to race, he’d give her a race. Before he realized it, Hailey was laughing and he’d even smiled. By the time they made it back to the manor, they’d both become solemn at the memory of Jason. Hailey was breathing heavily and Bruce, though breathing faster, was still not showing signs of being tired. 

Hailey began to stretch and Bruce followed suit. They didn’t say anything to one another. Once they’d cooled down enough, they made their way to the kitchen. Alfred had food waiting for them. It was Bruce's first meal and an early dinner for Hailey. He greeted them and made idle chit chat with Hailey who barely managed a response between gulping down water and scarfing down her food. Bruce ate quietly while reading the paper. Then suddenly, Hailey got up. 

“Alfred, thank you,” Hailey said gratefully. 

“Are you heading out, Miss Hailey?”

“Yeah, Mrs. Suarez has a dog now. I’m going to walk it for her.”

“I see. I’ll bring the car around,” Alfred told her. 

“No, it’s okay. I’ll walk.”

“Miss Hailey, it’s a long walk from here to Gotham. Not to mention that it’s hardly safe to make it there on foot,” Alfred said tiredly and it sounded to Bruce as if it had been repeated on more than one occasion. 

“No, it’s not. I’ll take you,” Bruce said looking at her with a stern glare. 

“But—“

“I’m taking you, that’s final.”

“Alright,” Hailey said with a shrug. “I’m just going to shower. I’ll be ready in half an hour.”

“Hnh.”

Once Hailey was out of earshot, Alfred turned to look at Bruce. The girl was on summer break. Alfred was worried about her because she chose to go into the city on her own on the weekends. Alfred would drive her there and back whenever she didn't manage to sneak past him on her way out. She spent the majority of her time at a community center and if she wasn't there, Alfred often found her at Mrs. Suarez's home. Hailey explained that the woman used to babysit her and had been her neighbor before the older woman moved into an apartment complex for individuals who were fifty-five plus.

“I’m happy to see you’re finally taking an interest in the girl,” Alfred said as he gathered the dishes. “I was beginning to think I should call a social worker to place her in a different home. Honestly, sir, she’s hardly seen you at all since Master Jason’s passing.”

“That’s enough, Alfred.”

“Yes, Master Bruce, it has been enough. Now, if you’ll excuse me,” Alfred told him with a sniff. He rubbed his eyes as he made his way back to the kitchen. 

Bruce groaned and put down the paper. He needed a shower. He was going to drive Hailey to Gotham. He needed to know who Hailey was spending her time with and why. 


	14. Chapter Thirteen

Tim felt uncomfortable every time he saw Hailey at school. He would see her before classes started and on his way back to his floor after his lunch hour. She didn’t know who he was though. Jason didn’t even seem to recognize him. Tim had to learn who everyone was just in case his parents took him to a charity or some other sort of event. Though that rarely happened since his parents were out of town more often than not. After Bruce Wayne adopted a young girl, his mother wouldn’t talk about anything but. His father did the obligatory hmms and grunts at the appropriate times. Though he never really paid any attention to what she said about the girl. Tim wasn’t interested either. There wasn’t a girl on team bat. Other than Batgirl but she was older and had begun her crusade prior to Hailey’s arrival at the manor. His interest in her was only due to his wanting to ask her if she was aware that Bruce was Batman. He knew she was smart. So she just had to know. But if Tim asked her and she didn’t know, he would be outing the man to her. He told himself to keep his distance. It was for the best. 

Then the rumors started. Rumors that didn’t reach his grade until after the incident in the cafeteria and subsequent actions in the girl’s bathroom. Since it happened prior to Tim’s lunch hour, he found out after the fact. Hailey had been long gone by then. Tim felt angry about the entire thing. He couldn’t give the rumors credit. Hailey hadn’t been responsible for Jason’s broken arm and neither was Bruce. Tim had proof that he couldn’t show anyone because then he’d be outing Batman and Robin just to save Hailey’s reputation. His parents didn’t know what to make out of the entire thing. The rumors had reached their ears as well. They asked Tim but all he could do was shrug. Whether or not they were true, how would he possibly know? And he said as much. His mother agreed with him, however. She told Tim not to listen to the rumors that Wayne would sort it all out. Tim nodded in agreement and before he knew it, Bruce Wayne had come through. He made his way to the school and conducted his own investigation with his lawyers and a detective that the school board had agreed to allow within the school grounds. In the end, only one girl was expelled and everyone else involved was either suspended or given detention. After that, no one so much as let out a peep about Hailey. But Tim still couldn’t find a way to actually talk to her. His curiosity in knowing if she knew about Bruce’s secret had also waned as well. 

When his parents insisted that he go with them to a charity event, Tim agreed. Though he didn’t have much choice in the matter. But the fact that Hailey would be there was the only reason his mother wanted to go. His father thought it was a waste of time. They could be in Africa instead and it seemed as if he was angry about the fact that he wasn’t. Tim was actually happy his parents were home regardless of the reason. Especially since his mother actually took the time to talk to him. Granted it was about Hailey—and it was quite annoying—but he still radiated giddiness due to the attention. But then he actually met Jason Todd. Robin. In the flesh. And it was awesome. 

When his mother collapsed with his father nowhere in sight and the place was being overrun by maniacs, Tim didn’t know how he kept his cool. His mother was too heavy for him to move under the table and away from the goons with guns. He knew he was short for his age. Had known even before standing in front of Hailey who was two years his junior and happened to be his exact height. It wasn’t cute at all. His mother was crazy for saying so. After what Jason had implied, he needed to make sure Janet Drake understood that Hailey was just a kid and that he was too. There shouldn’t be any matchmaking or talks of matchmaking like ever! As he thought that, he found his strength and finally managed to pull his mother under the table and under the cover of table cloth just to realize that he hadn’t done it alone. Hailey was there. She’d come to help him. Tim thanked her and then looked over his mother. Hailey checked her pulse and seemed overly worried about her well being. Tim remained calm because two kids being frantic with everything going on and his mother passed out would not help. And hey, with Hailey there, in the line of fire so to speak, Batman was sure to come sooner rather than later.

Having Catwoman escort them out of the building and to the ambulance was a godsend. Or perhaps, a batsend? Finally, his father found him when he was getting into the ambulance after his mother. Jack said he would follow behind the ambulance in his own car. Tim simply nodded and held his mother’s hand all the way to the hospital. She looked perfectly fine. The paramedics said she had a concussion but that it didn’t seem like she had any other injuries. Though they seemed a bit concerned about her being passed out for the amount of time she had been. When the paramedics relayed the information to the doctor at the ER, the doc decided to do some tests just to rule anything out. They had an orderly escort Tim to the waiting room. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been there. His time was preoccupied with watching the news to see if they had any word about what happened at the charity. As soon as they said it was just a hoax, Tim couldn’t believe it. His mother could’ve died and it was all because of some stupid hoax? Then more information came in about robots and Tim huffed in annoyance. They probably wouldn’t have enough details until the commissioner held a press conference. Right when they announced that the commissioner was going to be on in a few minutes, Hailey showed up to keep him company. Tim wasn’t sure what to make of that. But he was grateful and he knew his mother would be very happy to know that Hailey was worried about her. It was why he promised to let her know what the doctors said and then at his mother’s prompting called her the next day to do just that.

Tim couldn’t get a hold of his parents when he found out about Jason Todd’s passing. He wanted to give his condolences, to go to the funeral, but it turned out to be an extremely private gathering. Family and close friends only. The Drake’s weren’t that close to the Wayne’s even though they were neighbors. Though Tim knew that with a phone call from his father to the Wayne residence, he would’ve been able to attend. He’d never really held any resentment towards his parents when they traveled. He secretly wished they were home more often but he didn’t hate them for it. His parents weren’t the only ones who absconded at a moment’s notice. His were just the only ones that did it so often. But this time around, Tim was angry. He swallowed it down as far as he could. It was all he could do. There was no point in fretting over it at all. Not like things would change any time soon. Tim did manage to send a card and some flowers to Wayne Manor using his father’s credit card. And that was when his parents finally returned his call. But they had assumed Tim was sending flowers to Hailey for the entirely wrong reasons and he didn’t have the patience for any of that nonsense so for the first time in his life, he hung up on his parents and ignored their subsequent calls. It was only one. But Tim wasn’t counting. Not like he had to.

Tim hadn’t expected to see Hailey at school so soon after the funeral. It hadn’t even been an entire week. And when she seemed so out of touch with reality, Tim wondered why she’d been allowed to attend. It didn’t make any sense. He couldn’t go up to her and ask though, the school therapist was leading Hailey towards her office. A few weeks later, she was back in school. She didn’t look as bad as she had so soon after the funeral. But she still had an air of misery that surrounded her. Tim tried to talk to her but she didn’t even notice him. Then she called out to him when he decided to walk away. He was taken by surprise when Hailey embraced him. Tim wasn’t used to displays of affection. Yeah, his mother hugged him hello and goodbye every time they left and returned from a trip, but this was different. Hailey was in mourning and he hadn’t initiated the hug. He felt bad that he hadn’t and worse yet that he had no idea how to console the girl. She asked about his mother and Tim closed himself off. He regretted it later. He hadn’t helped Hailey in the least. 

According to the news, Batman was not taking Robin’s passing with the grace of well, a hero. He’d gone out every night as an avenging demon. He took out his pain on any criminal no matter how grand or petty their crimes. Batman needed a Robin to temper his rage and his pain. Tim knew exactly who to turn to for help. And it wasn’t Hailey. Tim had figured out when he had thought back to what Hailey said the night of the chaos at the charity that she had no idea that Bruce was Batman. There was only one other person who could help and that was the former Robin. The problem was that there was no telling where he was. He hadn’t been in the paper at all. He was either very good at avoiding the press or he was out of town with the Titans since none of them had been seen recently either. 

Before he lost all hope in finding the absentee Dick Grayson, Tim read in the paper that Haly’s Circus would be close to the city. He decided to stop by with the hope of running into Dick. He figured that the former acrobat wouldn’t pass up a chance to see his former circus family. If it were Tim, he wouldn’t either. He made his way to the circus grounds and found exactly who he was looking for. The problem was, he couldn’t convince Dick to be Robin again. Not even to partner with Batman as Nightwing. He had no idea what else he could do to convince him. But it seemed like Dick had an idea of his own when he invited him up to the manor to talk to Bruce. Perhaps the fact that Tim had helped him solve a mystery at Haly’s was the reason Dick was even giving Tim the time of day. Though Dick said that if it was true that Bruce was so far gone then he needed to hear Tim out. Resigned, Tim decided he would talk to Bruce. At the very least, maybe he could get him to stop engaging in destructive behavior while he was out as Batman. 

The Batcave was intense. Dark. Gloomy. Huge. And filled with memories. Good and bad. Dick had led him down there. And Tim paid attention. He remembered the code on the clock. He spoke to Bruce. Who listened. Then dismissed him. But Tim was not one to give up. He kept talking. The more he spoke the wider Dick and Alfred’s smiles became. And the more frustrated Bruce was in turn. Then Dick turned to Bruce and said, “You have to train him. He’s already got the detective thing down.” All Bruce did was grunt after Dick told him how Tim’s detective skills had helped at Haly’s. Tim was confused. He hadn’t gone to them to ask to join their Bat-family. But really, he had no other choice. Especially when Two-face caught both Batman and Nightwing off guard. If Tim didn’t go out to help, they’d be goners. Alfred helped him suit up and gave him a ride. “Be careful, Master Timothy,” Alfred said. And Tim got to work. With Alfred’s help, he saved Batman and Nightwing. 

“You need training,” Bruce told him in a very serious tone once they were back at the Batcave. 

The statement left no room for argument. Alfred readied a room for Tim so that he could get some sleep before coming down for breakfast. 

The next morning when Hailey came down to the breakfast table, she didn’t look surprised to see Dick or Tim there. She sat down quietly. Didn’t even say hello not even after Alfred greeted her. She ignored everyone in the room and ate silently. Dick and Tim spoke to one another though they surreptitiously watched Hailey hoping she’d join in their banter. When she finished eating, she got up and made her way to her room. 

“Bruce?” Dick said looking at him with a furrowed brow. “What’s going on with Hailey?”

Bruce sighed heavily and rubbed a hand over his face. “The man who murdered her father escaped prison last night. I informed her soon after Commissioner Gordon called with the details earlier today.”

“Are there any leads? Is there anything we can do?” Dick asked quickly barely stopping himself from standing up and getting to work. 

Bruce shook his head. “He’s back in custody. His only goal was to kill Hailey’s step-mother and then he turned himself in.”

“What?” Dick said and furrowed his brow. “Why would he go after her?”

“According to him, Lynn paid him to kill Jasper and he was angry she got away with it. He decided to take matters into his own hands.”

“Jesus.”

“Is-is Hailey going to be okay?” Tim asked quietly. He felt like he was intruding in someone else’s family and therefore it might be impolite to ask, but his curiosity got the better of him. 

Bruce shrugged. 

“Has she said anything?” Dick asked worriedly. 

“Only that Jason was right,” Bruce said with a pinched expression. 

“About what?”

“She didn’t elaborate,” Bruce said but he could hazard a guess. Then he got up and left the room. 

“I’m going to check up on Hailey and then I need to get back,” Dick said to Tim. 

“Alright.”

“I’ll be back for a visit in a week or so to check on your progress. Don’t slack off.”

“I won’t.”

Dick smiled and waved as he walked out of the kitchen. Tim waved back then looked over at Alfred who’d come into the room to clear the dishes. 

“In an hour, we’ll begin your training downstairs,” Alfred informed him. 

Tim nodded. “I just need to get a change of clothes from home.”

“Very well.”

Tim left the manor only to walk into an empty house. After having spent time with Dick and Bruce and having had breakfast with them, Tim didn’t think the emptiness of his home would hit him so hard. He’d never realized that he was alone. He’d kept himself busy enough. He’d always had nannies until he grew out of them. He couldn’t exactly say he missed his parents because they were never around long enough for him to feel that. Though he couldn’t shake the feeling of wanting them home. He wanted to be able to sit and have a meal with them whenever he wanted. Having had a meal at the manor with Dick and Bruce and even Hailey no matter how quiet she’d been was nice. It was something he hadn’t known he wanted. He wanted his family. 

Tim ignored the thoughts, however. Bruce said he needed training. And so he would train. That way he could become Robin and help Batman navigate in the dark without getting lost along the way. And maybe in the process, he could be there for Hailey like she’d been there for him. Tim wanted that. To be friends with her. To be part of her family even though she wasn’t aware that Bruce was Batman. Bruce was adamant about Tim not divulging the secret to Hailey. But Tim didn’t think he could keep her in the dark about what he was doing at the manor. He figured she’d eventually find out on her own. He was actually quite certain she would. 


	15. Chapter Fourteen

Hailey heard happy voices coming from the manor entrance. She’d been reading in her room. But the voices carried up the stairs and through her open doorway and distracted her. She padded out into the hallway and peered over the rails in time to see Richard and Tim happily chatting as they made their way to Bruce’s office behind the stairs. She thought it was odd to see them together. Although, the Drake’s were their neighbors so it was a safe bet they’d met before. 

Hailey wanted to greet Richard. It wasn’t very often she got to see him. But when she knocked on the office door no one answered. Her curiosity got the better of her and she entered the room. Only to find that it was empty. Maybe they’d walked out again. She searched for them in the kitchen, the main living room, and the media room before she gave up and made her way back to her room. She knew she was missing something but decided not to dwell on it. The manor was too big to search everywhere and she figured she’d just see them at dinner. 

She’d fallen asleep on her window seat where she’d curled up after dinner. She’d been sad she hadn’t seen Richard and that he hadn’t stayed for dinner. It’d gotten pretty lonely in the manor since her brother’s passing. She regretted not having gone into Gotham that day. She figured she’d sneak away the next day. But in the morning Bruce knocked on her door waking her. She quickly got up just to be informed that her stepmother, Lynn, was dead. Hailey wasn’t sure if she was supposed to care about a woman who not only hated her but chose to send her away as soon as her dad was out of the picture. But for some reason hearing that the same man who’d killed her dad had killed Lynn, made her feel numb. 

_ “There are some people that don’t stop at hurting just one person because not even the law can stop them.” _

Jason’s words came back to her. He was right. He’d been right all along. Hailey just didn’t know what he was talking about at the time. But now, she understood perfectly well…

“Jason was right,” Hailey murmured just loud enough for Bruce to hear. 

“Hailey,” Bruce said and placed a hand on her shoulder to get her attention. She’d gotten lost in her thoughts after what he told her and he thought he’d leave her to them but now he wasn’t so sure. “What are you talking about?”

Hailey looked up at Bruce a bit surprised as if she’d forgotten he was even there then shook her head. “Nothing.”

Bruce nodded and got up. He decided it was best to leave her alone for a bit. Hailey followed him to the door. 

“Dick and Tim are here. They’ll be having breakfast with us,” Bruce told her hoping to see some reaction from her. 

“I’ll be down after I change,” Hailey said but she hadn’t truly registered what he’d said to her. She shut the door behind him and then leaned against it. She didn’t feel like going downstairs at all. But she’d already told Bruce she was so she made an effort to change and get ready to have breakfast with her family.

Bruce sighed and made his way downstairs. He hadn’t expected the news to hit her so hard. Hailey never even asked about her stepmother or said she missed her like she did about Jasper in the beginning. She’d never even asked why she couldn’t live with the woman. Though Lynn’s rights had been removed when she was suspected of wanting to kill Hailey as well as having a hand in her husband’s murder. But there hadn’t been enough evidence to even take the matter to court. Lynn was released and never bothered to enforce her parental rights. Bruce was glad that was the case and managed to legally hold on to Hailey without Lynn’s knowledge of where she was. Now that Lynn was dead, Bruce could begin the process to adopt Hailey. He just hoped Hailey wouldn’t object to that. He didn’t want her to think that he didn’t want her. He’d done a spectacular job of making her think that was the case in the aftermath of Jason's death. Though in her own way, Hailey made him aware of it and didn’t hold it against him. She was a bright girl and Bruce truly cared for her as he did his boys. Unfortunately, his mission came first. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t take care of her. And he didn’t consider placing her with a different family even though he was now certain she was no longer in danger. Alfred simply worried too much for his own good. 

* * *

During the remainder of her summer break, Hailey was becoming increasingly worried about Tim Drake’s presence in the manor. He was there almost every day and even seemed to have his own room. At first, Hailey hadn’t batted an eye. She was still reeling over the fact that Lynn’s death hadn’t affected her other than to make her angry about the fact that criminals were just able to do whatever they wanted. Nothing seemed to stop them short of taking them out. Having those thoughts constantly on her mind made it hard for her to see what was right in front of her. It was during dinner one night when Hailey noticed Bruce smiling about something Tim said that she decided she couldn’t overlook the situation any longer. But she didn’t know what to do about it. Then Tim said something to her that she hadn't even paid attention to but she lost it due to his attention on her. 

“No!” she said furiously startling both Tim and Bruce. She stood up and stalked out of the room. “I will not put up with this!”

“Hailey?!” Bruce called out to her and she stopped in the hallway. Bruce stood up and followed. “Hailey, is everything alright?”

“Of course, it isn’t!”

“How about you explain it to me then,” Bruce said calmly. He had no idea what had gotten into her. “Maybe I can help.”

“Help?! You did this!” She pointed an accusatory finger at him. “How could you?”

“I don’t follow,” Bruce said with a slight frown. He couldn’t remember having done anything that would make her this upset.

“Tim!” She gestured wildly in the direction of the dining room. 

“What about Tim?” That was a revelation. Was she upset that he was coming over so often?

Hailey screamed out of frustration and ran off to her room slamming the door behind her. Bruce heard her scream again and he sighed. He had absolutely no idea how to deal with a pre-teen girl. The boys had been easier to understand and they mostly argued with him about having more independence. As far as he was concerned, he'd given her a wide berth especially now that he knew what she did with her free time in Gotham. 

“Bruce, do you mind if I talk to her?” Tim said nervously as he looked up towards the second floor. He couldn’t help but take what had happened personally.

Tim had been worried about the way Hailey had been ignoring him as of late but he wasn’t sure how to broach the subject without making it even more awkward. Especially since he thought she was upset that he was training with Bruce and Alfred to become Robin. He had known that they couldn’t keep that part of his life from her but he didn’t know when he’d slipped. How had she figured it out so fast? He’d been so careful.

“Did something happen between the two of you?” Bruce asked curiously but sternly. 

“What?” Tim said and looked at Bruce. He realized Bruce was upset about some nonexistent problem when he caught the slight frown forming on his brow. “No! I just think she knows why I’m really here.”

“I doubt that’s it but if you want to take a stab at it,” Bruce said and looked a little unsure. 

Tim nodded and bounded up the stairs. He knocked on Hailey’s door and announced his presence. The door creaked open and Hailey peered at him through the crack suspiciously. 

“If you’re here to convince me to go along with their arrangement, you have another think coming.”

“Arrangement? What are you talking about?” Tim said thoroughly confused. 

Hailey opened the door wider and stared at him. 

“The betrothal.”

“What?!”

“Your mom obviously talked to Bruce and he agreed. Why else would you be here practically every day?” Hailey crossed her arms over her chest as if she was daring him to challenge what she’d just said. She had thought Tim was in on it. But it seemed he hadn’t known. 

“Are you sure about that? You heard them talking about it? Because I have not heard anything about that. Like at all,” Tim said gesturing with his hands, slicing one through the air to punctuate his statement.

Hailey huffed in annoyance and stomped down the stairs. She would get to the bottom of this once and for all. 

Tim followed at her heels. He needed to know if it was true. Jeezus. Was that the reason his mom was always talking his ear off about Hailey to him. What if it was true? Dear god.

“Dad!” 

“Bruce!”

Bruce stepped out of his office when he heard the kids calling out to him. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, he waited for them to tell him what was going on.

“Tell him!” Hailey said pointing at Tim.

“Tell him what?” Bruce said looking from Hailey to Tim hoping to receive some sort of clarification. 

“Did my mother convince you to arrange a marriage between us?” Tim asked pointing from Hailey to himself. He was sensible enough to give all the facts without assuming the other party knew how to read minds. 

Bruce smiled as he looked at them. He couldn’t believe they were worried about that. Janet Drake had brought up the topic to him in passing but she was not especially serious about it. She simply toyed with the idea even though Jack rolled his eyes in the background. He was not planning to arrange a marriage for Tim. And Bruce would never do that to Hailey. But seeing their concerned faces and the increasing worry the longer he stayed silent, made him chuckle. 

“Bruce?” Tim said now sweating and wiping his brow. “When-when did you even talk to my parents about this?”

Hailey screamed in aggravation and ran up the stairs slamming her bedroom door. From her room, they heard her say, “I’m not getting married! You can’t make me!”

Bruce laughed and squeezed Tim’s shoulder. 

“Tim, there was no such arrangement made.”

“Why didn’t you say so?!” Tim said in utter frustration. He felt his body slump after the buildup of the anxiety he'd been feeling dissipated quickly once he found out he had nothing to worry about.

Bruce shrugged, chuckled, and walked away. 

_ What the hell? _ Since when did Bruce have a sense of humor. Granted it was at Tim’s expense but still, it was so freaking bizarre.

It took Tim half an hour to convince Hailey that they were not betrothed. It wasn’t until he told her that he was over so much because he was undergoing some training that she finally relented.

“Training?” Hailey said curiously then flipped onto her stomach from her back. 

She’d been laying on her bed as the argument droned on. She was just giving Tim a hard time. She had believed him the first time he told her. He was extremely emphatic as he did so it was hard not to believe him. And she knew Bruce could be an ass when he wanted to be. 

“Like coaching for business stuff?” She peered at him closely. He was sitting on the chair of her desk. “Are you trying to usurp your dad’s business from him like Hugo?”

_ Usurp? Who the heck talked like that? _

“Who’s Hugo?” Tim said trying to think if he knew anyone by that name.

“Sebastian Bennet’s son. The once owner of Bennett Worldwide,” Hailey said sitting up and leaning forward.

“Bennett Worldwide? Never heard of it,” Tim said with a shake of his head. He thought she was making all of this up but so long as she didn’t question him about his training he didn’t mind.

“That’s because Hugo took it from him without his father’s knowledge. Then he gave it to his mistress who in turn swallowed it up into her company Skyscend. How do you not know any of this?”

“Skyscend? Where is this company from?” Tim said humoring her. She had a very wild imagination.

“Riverside, duh,” Hailey said and sat back. She kicked her feet up and down. “Anyone who watches ‘Moments of Ours’ knows that.”

“You’re talking about a soap opera?” Tim said incredulously. His mother watched that soap all the time. He didn’t think anyone his age watched it. And what she asked him... “You’re comparing me to a  _ fictional character _ ?”

“Shut up!” Hailey said standing up and rushing over to Tim to slap a hand over his mouth. “You can’t call them that or one of them will die.” 

“Mmmffgh!”

“Tim! You probably killed someone off the soap!” Hailey covered her mouth and stared at Tim wide-eyed. “Why?”

“You’re crazy,” Tim said and crossed his arms over his chest.

Hailey dropped her hands and smiled widely. At Tim's quirk of an eyebrow, she just started to laugh.

“Oh my god, this whole family is crazy!” Tim said and stood to leave. First Bruce now Hailey. What the hell was wrong with them? Was it pick on Tim Drake day and he was the last to hear about it?

“It’s Mrs. Saurez’s favorite soap, you know. And she’s very superstitious. If someone dies, I’m telling her what you said. She’ll be so mad at you she’ll refuse to come to the wedding,” Hailey said matter-of-factly.

“There will  _ never _ be a wedding!” Tim said already in the hallway.

Hailey just laughed again and jumped back on her bed pulling out a book from under her pillow to start reading.

She was very happy to know that what she had presumed wasn’t true. Tim was cool and all but she was way way way too young to get married.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

There was definitely going to be a wedding and it was all Tim’s fault. Hadn’t he ever heard the saying ‘never say never’? You’re never supposed to say never or whatever you’re saying will never happen...does. It had been about six months since then but still, it was Tim’s fault in her eyes. Luckily for Hailey, Tim hadn’t been specific about whose wedding he was referring to so she was in the clear. But Dick was not. 

Dick seemed stressed. Though he was not letting Bruce dissuade him of his choice to marry an alien. Not just any alien. A model. And one of the Titans. If anyone could meet and fall for an alien bombshell, it just had to be Hailey’s brother. It wasn’t weird at all. Note the sarcasm. Maybe Tim had been right when he said her entire family was crazy. This situation totally fell into that category.

Hailey was sitting at the top of the stairs waiting for Bruce and Dick who were currently in the front room to finish arguing. She hadn’t even been able to greet her older brother yet. She didn’t understand why Bruce was against his son getting married. Or why Dick wanted to get married so badly that he didn’t want to wait to do so. It was as if he’d been bewitched. Then again, that was probably a side effect of being in love. 

Hailey decided she didn’t want that to ever happen to her. The love thing. It seemed like too much trouble. Her dad and stepmother were always fighting. Being married didn’t seem like a good idea to her. It made more sense to just stay single like Bruce. And that was part of the argument. Bruce had never been married so he couldn’t understand why Dick wanted to do it. Dick, however, wanted what his parents had. Hailey sighed. The two needed to agree to disagree. Because that was the only way that argument was going to come to an end. Alfred seemed to have the same idea when he decided to intervene and put the argument on hold until after dinner he’d said. Hailey scoffed. As if either of them would have a change of heart with a full belly.

Alfred called her down to dinner and Hailey raised an eyebrow at him. She hadn’t realized that anyone noticed her perched atop the stairs. He hadn’t even looked in her direction when he spoke to her. When Dick looked in her direction, she grinned and ran down the stairs. She jumped from the fifth stair up right into Dick’s arms. He easily caught her and swung her around before he put her down.

“How’ve you been, Hailey?” Dick asked as he pressed her to his side. They walked towards the dining room like that as Hailey regaled him on her classmate Ben’s newest injury and subsequent ride to the ER via ambulance. 

“This time it was a concussion,” Hailey said and pointed at her eye. “His pupil in his left eye was blown so large it looked like a cat’s eye.”

“How did he get hurt?” Dick said curiously. He looked over at Bruce who shrugged. He hadn’t heard this story so it might have just happened.

“Well, Robert challenged him to see who between them could hold their breath the longest,” Hailey said with a roll of her eyes and Dick grinned. “They’re idiots. Everybody already knew that Ben would win. Steve said he would keep time. I was chosen as a referee to ensure that they weren’t cheating. And that was the problem.”

“How so?” Dick interrupted, still smiling.

“Because they weren’t cheating. Even after Robert gave up, Ben still kept holding his breath,” Hailey said becoming agitated and gesturing wildly with her hands. “I mean, come on. Once you won, you won. But then he turned maroon then purple and then blue. We were all shouting at him. Telling him to breathe. Steve ran to get help but by the time the nurse got there, Ben had passed out. She had to give him CPR!! He hit his head pretty hard when he fell and that’s how he got the concussion. The paramedics took him away and then everybody got really antsy. Steve and Robert didn’t want to say anything. And they got mad at me when I told the nurse and the vice principal that Ben was holding his breath. I mean, they had to know what happened. And everyone else was throwing the three of us under the bus. Saying it was our fault. Only, it wasn’t! It was all Ben. Because he’s an idiot who can’t stop getting hurt. But I didn’t say that it was part of a dare! I’m not stupid. Anyway, they’re not talking to me anymore. Just as well. Those stupid boys are always getting into trouble.”

“I’m sorry, Hailey,” Dick said, feeling bad about her losing the first friends she’d made at the academy. 

“For what? They weren’t my friends!” Hailey said dramatically. “Honestly, I have no idea how I always get roped into their stupid stunts.” She said as if it was hard for her to believe how it even happened. Dick would’ve believed her too had she not grinned afterward. She just couldn’t hide it. It was true, they weren’t truly her friends but she always had fun when they dragged her into their reckless acts. Those boys reminded her of someone she’d lost. Like before, it was never meant to last. She hadn’t expected it to either.

Dick chuckled and ruffled her hair which made her scowl. She ran her fingers through her hair to fix it. Right as Alfred began to serve them, the doorbell rang. Hailey shot up out of her seat and ran to the door. They didn’t get many visitors but Hailey was starting to get used to meeting new people. 

Since her adoption, Bruce had invited some of his friends over sporadically so that they could meet her. The first was Clark Kent who Bruce had chosen to be her godfather. At first, she thought it was weird until she saw Superman fly away from the manor and Clark was suddenly gone. Superman as a godfather. Sure, that happened. Like having had a brother who just happened to be Robin. Then she met Diana and a man named John twice. They were nice but nothing special. Kinda formal. Like regal or something. Hailey couldn’t put her finger on it. After that Hailey was able to tour Bruce’s place of work where she met Lucious Fox, another friend of Bruce’s. He showed her lots of stuff the company was working on that maybe he wasn’t supposed to and it made her giggle when she found that out. Bruce probably shouldn’t have left her alone with Lucious. He’d almost signed the company over to her or so Bruce said dramatically making her laugh. She liked his friends a lot better than the socialites she’d met the night she’d met the Drakes. 

Bruce had slowly been making changes for the better. He was home more often and just seemed in better spirits altogether. Tim being around during the summer had helped Bruce move forward instead of staying stuck in the anger loop he’d been in while mourning Jason’s death. He didn’t revert back to it when Tim left and for that Hailey was grateful. 

Tim had gotten bit by the traveling bug just like his parents and had gone to Asia for a cultural something or other. He’d recently returned but she hadn’t seen much of him. High school and his new social calendar kept him too busy to stop by as often as he used to. But Tim brought a friend over to meet her. Conner Kent who just so happened to be Clark’s younger brother. Or so he’d said. They looked more like father and son to her but she kept that to herself. So she was very curious to know who had stopped by this time around. Maybe another relative of Clark’s? 

“Hey, you must be Hailey,” said a redhead as soon as she opened the door.

“Yeah,” Hailey said with a slight nod. “And you are?”

“Wally West,” he said with a grin and stuck out a hand to shake. She shook it and smiled back gesturing for him to come inside. “I came looking for Dick, is he here?”

Hailey nodded and told him to follow her into the dining room.

“Wally! What are you doing here? I thought we were meeting up tomorrow,” Dick said and stood up from the table to clap a hand on Wally’s shoulder in greeting.

“There was a change of plans,” Wally said and then his stomach growled. He rubbed his neck sheepishly. “Uh, mind if I join you all for dinner?”

“Not at all,” Bruce told him and gestured for him to take a seat.

Alfred set a place setting for him and served him before he made his leave.

“So what brings you by?” Dick said before he took a bite of his food.

“Tina took off and my mom just… I had to get away and since I was meeting up with you tomorrow anyway, I thought I would just show up early,” Wally said and shrugged. Then he turned to look at Bruce. “I can get a hotel room so you don’t have to put up with me.”

“Nonsense,” Bruce told him and gestured upstairs. “We have plenty of room. You could stay here.”

“Really?” Wally said surprised and looked at Hailey before he looked at Bruce again.

“Sure,” Bruce told him. “Hailey has a science project you could help her with.”

“ _ You’re _ supposed to help me, Dad,” Hailey said with a slight frown.

“I need to speak to Dick after dinner,” Bruce told her and then gestured to Wally. “Wally is a physics major, it shouldn’t be too hard for him. If you get stuck, just have him call his uncle.”

“Who’s your uncle?” Hailey said skeptically.

“Um, you mean Barry?” Wally said then looked at Bruce curiously.

“Barry Allen is your uncle?” Hailey said in surprise.

“You know my uncle Barry?”

“Yeah, Dick gave me his number,” Hailey pointed at Dick who smiled crookedly at Wally and nodded. “I just had a few questions but then he offered to tutor me, which was great because I had fallen behind. With his help, I ended up with the highest grade in the class. So now they have me in the honors program. I really need help with all the science stuff. It’s just not my strong suit.” She said with a pout.

“Well, you’re in luck because it is mine. I’ll help you, no problem.”

“Awesome.”

“So, when is this project due?”

“Tomorrow,” Hailey said with a shrug. She’d put it off because she really really hadn’t wanted to do it. And she was starting to hate science. Not only that but she’d misplaced Barry’s number and forgot to ask Dick for it again.

Bruce sighed and Dick laughed. “You have your work cut out for you, man.”

“No kidding,” Wally said under his breath. “Alright, walk me through what we have to do while we eat and then we’ll jump right on it after dinner.”

Hailey groaned but she started to tell him what she remembered about the project. Wally listened and nodded. He was determined to help her ace it. And he was grateful to get his mind off his current problems with his girlfriend turned ex and his mother getting on his case about dropping out of school. He just thought it would go a little different. Like going out and getting a few beers with Dick to celebrate his new lease on singlehood just as Dick was about to tie the knot. Actually, the new turn of events was probably for the best.

Hailey fell asleep in the middle of the project. Luckily they’d been working on it in her room so she fell asleep on her bed. Wally covered her with an extra blanket he’d taken from the closet and finished the construction. Hailey had already finished writing the report so he didn’t think it was cheating too much especially when he finished the construction in a few seconds thanks to his speed. 

By the time Dick came looking for him, he was already walking out of Hailey’s room. They went downstairs just in time to greet Roy Harper and his daughter. It was a lot easier for him to arrive early than to try to arrive on the day of the actual tuxedo fitting, which was what they were going to do the next day. After Roy put his daughter down for the night, the three boys stayed up late watching movies and catching up.

* * *

“Hi, what’s your name?” said a high pitch voice right by Hailey’s ear first thing in the morning.

Hailey gasped and sat up scooting over on her bed in fright. She blinked at the little girl and swallowed hard.

“I’m Lian,” said the little girl who couldn’t be more than two years old.

“Uh, hi,” Hailey said and managed to look up to see a redheaded man walking into her room. He stopped short only a few paces in after seeing her expression. Hailey swallowed hard. “Who are you?”

“That’s my daddy, silly,” Lian said and giggled.

“Lian, you can’t just walk into other people’s rooms without permission. Apologize and come with me downstairs to get breakfast,” said the redhead sternly.

“Sorry, I just wanted to say hi,” Lian said and waved as she hopped off the bed and ran to the doorway to take her daddy’s hand.

“Sorry about the intrusion,” said the redhead with a small smile. “We’ll leave you alone now.”

Hailey nodded and when the door closed she pressed a hand to her chest. She was breathing fast and trying to make sense of what the heck had just happened. At first, she thought the little girl was a ghost who’d come to haunt her and she couldn’t just get over the frightening chilling feeling that had overcome her at the thought.

“What the fuck?” Hailey said in such a soft voice even she had a hard time hearing. 

A knock on her door practically made her jump out of her skin. 

“Hailey, come down for breakfast before Wally eats everything,” Dick said from the other side of the door. He laughed and argued with someone else, probably Wally, before he headed downstairs not even waiting for a reply. 

Hailey shook her head. Hailey hadn’t seen this much commotion in the morning since Jason. She teared up and wiped her face before jumping off her bed. She decided a quick shower before heading downstairs was in order just to clear her head. 

When Hailey went downstairs, she was assaulted with so much happy noise that she suddenly felt herself feeling a little lonely. Why hadn’t the manor been teeming with life like this while her brother was still around? The redhead, Lian’s dad, happened to look her way when she walked into the breakfast area. Their eyes locked and he seemed to notice something in her expression because he quickly looked away and garnered Dick’s attention from his current horseplay with Wally. He whispered something to Dick in his ear and then Dick was suddenly looking her way. He grinned and walked up to her to greet her with one of his hugs that made everything feel better. 

He kneeled before her and brushed her hair back. “Good morning,” he said softly as if there wasn’t still a lot of noise coming from behind him. 

It was Wally, Hailey realized, he was exuberant enough to fill the entire manor with cheer. Just like Jason used to. She hadn’t noticed it the night before. But she liked Wally. And he didn’t remind her of Jason. She just suddenly missed him so very much. 

“Are you okay? Are there too many people here? I could get rid of one or two,” Dick said with a small playful smile. He was talking soft enough for only her to hear. 

Hailey swallowed the lump in her throat and shook her head. “No. I just think Jason would have loved to be here for this.”

Dick let out a slow breath and nodded. His smile was crooked for a moment and then he grinned. “I think so too. I would’ve made him the ring bearer. You think he would’ve liked that?”

Hailey snorted then she started to laugh. 

“What? He would’ve made a great ring bearer!”

“Yeah, if you had the power to de-age him!” Hailey said with a grin. “He was too old and he would’ve punched you in the face for even asking.”

Dick laughed then and shrugged. “Probably.” He stood up and ushered her towards the table. “This is my friend Roy Harper and his daughter, Lian.”

“I already met her!” Lian said and jumped out of her seat to sit on Hailey’s lap. “She’s the bestest!”

“Lian!” Roy said exasperatedly. 

“Did you now?” Dick said with a small chuckle and waved Roy’s worries away.

‘It’s okay,’ Hailey mouthed to Roy who nodded gratefully. 

“And you’re right, she’s my bestest sister.”

Hailey rolled her eyes. “I better be since I’m the only one you have.”

Dick chuckled but didn’t say anything else. 

“So what do you want to eat?” Lian asked, turning to face Hailey. “That one or that one or that one.” She was pointing at the different platters on the table as if each one was for a single person. 

“This one!” Hailey said pointing at Lian’s nose. 

“No, silly! You can’t eat me!” 

“Aw, chucks. Well then maybe that one,” Hailey said pointing at the scrambled eggs. 

“Eww! You like eggs? They’re yucky!”

“Shh!” Hailey said, placing a finger to her mouth. “Don’t let Alfred hear you say that or he’ll start to cry.”

Lian nodded in agreement and clapped a hand over her mouth. Roy was smiling at their interaction. He took the chance to serve Hailey since she couldn’t do it herself with her hands full of a toddler. Then he plucked her off of Hailey’s lap so that she could eat. 

Hailey headed to school after breakfast and came back home to an empty house. The wedding would be in two days time and after having only met two of Dick’s friends, she was actually looking forward to it. Even Bruce seemed to be in a better mood after Dick left. Though Hailey could tell he wasn’t happy about Dick’s decision to have the wedding so soon after his announcement of the engagement. But there wasn’t any changing Dick's mind in that respect. 

In the end, Hailey left the manor the morning of the wedding accompanied by Alfred and Tim. Bruce decided he had more pressing matters to attend to which no one with a half a brain believed. Alfred even called his excuse codswallop. Bruce nearly looked at him sternly before he retreated to his office. Hailey giggled under her breath but quickly stopped when she noticed the unshed tears in Alfred’s eyes before he’d completely turned away. She swallowed hard and looked at Tim who sighed and followed after Alfred. Hailey quickly followed but couldn’t help looking back towards the office. This wasn’t something small she realized. But once Bruce set his mind on something, it was hard to change it. She just hoped Dick wouldn't be so angry he’d never stop by the manor again. Then she slapped Tim on the arm when they reached the car. 

“Ow, what was that for?” Tim said rubbing his arm. 

“Never say never ever again,” Hailey said in a hiss. 

“What?” Tim said as he got in the car. He was so confused. He looked at Hailey who refused to look at him and he sighed. “Why am I friends with crazy people?”

“Face your demons, Tim,” Hailey said, making Tim look at her befuddled. “Because it really takes one to know one.”

“Like attracts like, after all,” Alfred said wisely as he pulled out of the driveway. 

Hailey burst out laughing and Tim groaned realizing Alfred was siding with her. Hailey’s laughter and Tim’s dismay made Alfred’s lips twitch. 

The day was looking up for the butler. And he felt a weight lift off his shoulders. Things couldn’t possibly get any worse after Bruce’s faux pas. The wedding would be splendid indeed.


	17. Chapter Sixteen

Hailey had no idea what was happening to her. But she didn’t have time to think about her body being separated from her at the moment. It had happened so fast. One moment the priest was talking and the next, he was gone. Hailey had seen a person die before. Her dad had been killed before her eyes. That death—as horrific as it was to see from the perspective of an eleven-year-old mind—had nothing on the death she’d just witnessed. Because the man had not been shot and slumped down to the floor slowly. No, he had exploded from the center of his mass leaving nothing behind but a bloody mess and bits that would not be able to be identified. The shock of the scene forced Hailey to jump out of her skin. Literally. 

Time froze. Or maybe she had just become hyper-aware. There was a quick flurry of movement that was moving from her perspective in stop motion. Behind her, Alfred was quick to stand and pull Hailey towards him. Tim had been watching them and then jumped over the seats to retreat towards the house. Alfred turned back to try to get Hailey to move but her body had fallen to the ground. Her legs were unresponsive. Conner who was not there one moment but there the next quickly scooped her up in his arms. 

A few rows behind, Roy Harper picked up his daughter into his arms while taking a firm hold of Terry’s shoulder who was holding both his children in his arms. Donna Troy, his wife, was pushing him from behind to get him to follow Roy. Garfield was standing in front of them, blocking them from what was happening only a few feet ahead of them with his huge gorilla body so that they could make their hasty exit. 

Wally West had removed his tux and changed into a red uniform that had shot out of a ring he was wearing. And he ran forward only to be flung back a few feet knocking Garfield down with him. There was some sort of force field surrounding Koriand’r to block anyone from reaching her. 

Dick was trying to fight his way through Nightwing to get to Raven who’d taken Koriand’r by the nape of her hair and forced her to kneel before her. Koriand’r looked like she was in pain. But her struggle was internal. Raven had paralyzed her somehow. And seemed to have taken possession of Nightwing as well. Because Hailey was positive that Nightwing was a good guy. And there was no reason for him to be working with Raven and fighting against Dick who was trying to save his bride from Raven’s evil clutches unless he was under Raven’s demonic influence.

The seats behind Hailey were suddenly empty. There was only one or two askew as most had toppled over. The decorative flowers had been destroyed. Petals were swirling in the wind and covered the ground. High heel shoes had been left behind along with discarded tuxes and dresses from the guests who’d changed into their hero gear. 

Donna moved forward and clapped her wrists together above her head as Wally and Robin helped a dazed Garfield stand up. He was back to his human self. Donna was no longer in her formal wear. Instead, she was sporting a black jumpsuit ready to jump into the fray. Aqualad, Cyborg, Omen, Pantha, and Jericho had engaged in a fight against Hellebore, Lynch, Silent Vapor, and Volt. The heroes had the upper hand and were subduing their opponents. But none of that mattered when Koriand’r lay unresponsive on the ground with Dick hovering over her. Raven and Nightwing were already gone.

Hailey couldn’t hear anything. She could only see what was going on. She wanted to move. To scream. But she couldn’t. She was stuck in the same spot and forced to watch everything. Then suddenly a sharp pain pulled her back to her body. She felt like all the air was forced out of her lungs and she had to take a deep breath to get it back. But she didn’t stop at one, she kept pulling air into her lungs faster and faster. Her surroundings had changed. She was sitting on the porch at the front of Donna’s house. Conner was pulling Alfred back and away from her. Hailey lifted a hand to her cheek and she realized that Alfred had slapped her. Tears welled up in her eyes and suddenly Conner was kneeling in front of her, handing her a paper bag. 

“You’re hyperventilating,” Conner told her. “Breathe into this.”

Hailey did as she was told and Conner talked to her, trying to calm her down to get her to breathe slower. It took a minute or two but she was finally breathing normally. Her tears had spilled down her cheeks at some point. She was very aware that her brother was in trouble. She had to go back.

“We need to help, Dick,” Hailey said looking at Alfred with pleading eyes. “And what happened to Tim? He just ran off. He could be in trouble.”

“Dear child, what we need to do is get you out of here,” Alfred said and moved to pull her to her feet. But Conner stopped him. 

“Hailey,” Conner said in a soft voice that forced Hailey to hone in on it so that she didn’t miss what he was saying. It drowned out the noise of the fighting coming from the backyard. And sirens that were getting closer and closer. “The Titans are currently fighting and will end this soon. But you need to go with Alfred right now so that we don’t have to worry about your safety instead of trying to help Dick and Koriand’r.”

Hailey took in a shuddering breath and nodded. But before she could say anything, Conner held up a hand.

“I don’t want you to worry about Dick or Tim, we will look out for them. Alright? Please trust us.”

Hailey nodded and took Alfred’s extended hand. “Okay. But please, make sure to keep them safe.”

“We will,” Conner said solemnly and then he was gone with a swoosh of air. Because he was Superboy. 

That knowledge had finally clicked into place with all the other information that was swirling around in Hailey’s mind and forgotten just as easily as she rushed to the car with Alfred.

“Alfred,” Hailey said as she looked back to the house they were retreating. She watched as the paramedics arrived and Terry showed them how to get to the backyard through the side of the house. “Why did Tim run off? Where did he go?”

“He went into the house to call for help,” Alfred said easily. 

Hailey frowned at him as she looked back at him through the rearview mirror. She saw what had happened to her. As embarrassing as it was. She’d gone catatonic. Not that she really had but they didn’t know that she had astral traveled and that was why her body was unresponsive. She’d seen Tim run away from her and Alfred. Hailey was having a hard time making sense of that. From what she knew of Tim from the last time they’d been in a situation like this; how fast he’d jumped in to save his mom, how calm he’d stayed under the pressure, and the fact that he was relieved when Catwoman had shown up to help them—Dick’s wedding party guest was full to the brim with heroes—he would not have left them. Why would Tim run off to call help? There was help there!

“No,” Hailey said with a pout in a low voice. “I don’t think he did.”

Alfred looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. But he didn’t want to ask her what she’d said. He had already known that it didn’t matter what he said, she wouldn’t believe him. But he wasn’t too concerned about that. He didn’t agree with Bruce’s decision to keep her in the dark. But then again, when it came to Bruce’s decisions concerning his family, Alfred didn’t agree with most of them. And if Hailey figured out the secrets on her own especially when he was so bad at lying to her, well, there was nothing anyone could do about that now, was there? 

As Alfred pulled into the highway, the car phone rang and Alfred asked Hailey to answer it.

“Hello, who is this?” Hailey said distractedly as she stared out the window.

“Hailey, are you okay? Conner told me what happened,” Tim said in a hurry. 

“Tim, what happened to Dick and Kory?” Hailey asked instead of answering. 

“Dick is fine. It’s Kory that was hurt. They took her to the hospital,” Tim said and sounded like he sighed. 

“You didn’t go with them?” Hailey said angrily. 

“Dick said we couldn’t go. Only Roy was allowed to go with him,” Tim said and Hailey could hear the worry in his tone. “They took her to a special hospital. Physically she was fine but she’s in some sort of trance. Donna said that only Raven can help her. The Titans took off to go look for her.”

“What about you? What are you going to do?”

“I think I’m going to stick around here, just in case Dick needs anything. Tell Alfred I’ll keep you all posted whenever I get news, alright?”

“Yeah. Ok.”

“Hailey,” Tim said and sighed. “I’m really sorry. I needed to call for help just in case anyone got hurt. We were lucky that most of Dick and Kory’s guest list were Titans. But none of them are paramedics or cops, you know?”

“Uh, huh,” Hailey said in a soft tone. Even though she knew that was true, she still didn’t buy it. Tim took off for a different reason. She just didn’t know what it was. 

“I’m glad Conner was there to help you. I’m really sorry I wasn’t there for you, Hailey.”

“It’s okay,” Hailey told him and rubbed her eyes. 

“I’ll call the manor as soon as I get any news on Kory’s condition. I better go,” Tim told her. 

“Bye,” Hailey said and hung up before Tim said anything else. But mostly because she was crying. She wanted to see Dick. She wanted to be there with him. But she knew that she couldn’t and it was not fair. None of it was fair. 

_ Why did this happen? Why does everyone I know have to get hurt? _

Alfred couldn’t see Hailey from the front seat. She was laying on the seat as she cried softly to herself. He wasn’t sure what he could say to make her feel better. But he regretted that they had left without Tim. And at the same time, he was glad the young lad had stayed behind to help Dick in any way he could. Alfred was certain Tim would call as soon as he had an update. He’d simply have to wait until then to find out what happened. Because from the way Hailey was faring, he knew it wouldn’t be fair to ask her. Not at the moment. 

As soon as they arrived at the manor, Hailey looked for Bruce but he wasn’t home. Alfred sighed heavily at the turn of events. He knew that Bruce was more than likely down at the cave trying to find out what had happened and probably even gone out to help any way he could. But it wasn’t the time for him to do so. Not when Hailey was in need of her father. The first thing Alfred was going to do, as soon as he was certain Hailey was settled into bed, was to head down to the cave and give Bruce a piece of his mind. He not only let down one of his children—and on the day of his wedding—but two. Alfred couldn’t fill in for Bruce in times like these. But sometimes he did wish he was enough for the children. As Alfred contemplated all this while he set the code to go down to the cave, the doorbell rang. Alfred went to the door hoping he could get rid of whoever was there but was pleasantly surprised by the person who’d shown up at the doorstep. 

“Good evening, Alfred,” said Clark Kent. 

“Good evening, sir. Please, come in,” Alfred said politely. But before he could ask why Clark was there, the man nodded and headed for the stairs. 

“Bruce called to tell me what happened,” Clark said in a hurry. “I’m here to take Hailey with me for a few days since he’s currently on a JL mission and couldn’t be back on time.”

“I see,” Alfred said. “Let me join you. I’ll pack the young lady a bag.”

“No need, Alfred,” Clark said from the top of the stairs. “Bruce made arrangements beforehand just in case a situation such as this arose.”

Alfred nodded. He hadn’t expected that. Bruce had never done that with the two children that came before Hailey. But he smiled to himself feeling pleased with his master. Though he would still reprimand him for his behavior, he would go easy on him for having the foresight to make arrangements for the young girl in his care. And she couldn’t be in better hands than the man of steel himself. With a sigh, Alfred made his way to the kitchen to pack a small meal and snacks for Hailey just in case her appetite returned on the drive to Metropolis. When he came back out, Hailey was in Clark’s arms. She was crying softly but it seemed it was for a different reason this time. 

“She wants to see Bruce,” Clark explained. 

Alfred nodded and handed over the lunch bag to Clark. “Don’t worry about it too much, dear child. The next time Master Bruce walks in through these doors, he’ll be grounded for two weeks.”

Hailey chuckled and looked at Alfred with wet cheeks and puffy eyes. “Make it a month.”

“A month it is,” Alfred told her with a soft smile. 

“Deal,” she said with a grin and stuck out her hand to shake Alfred’s. The older man did do with a smile making Clark chuckle. 

“Alright, ready to go?” Clark told her and Hailey nodded. Clark turned to Alfred. “We’ll be back in a couple of days.”

“Drive safely.” 

Clark nodded and made his way out the door and towards a Wayne Enterprises company car. Alfred’s eyebrows shot up. It seemed that Bruce was very well aware of the hot water he was in with Alfred and was sparing no detail to make certain he’d gain some of his good favor before he returned. 

_ So far so good. _ Alfred thought with a smile as he closed the door to the manor. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try to reach him and chastise him over coms tonight. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ship Dick & Kory (Robin/Starfire). But this chapter was based on canon. The first time I read that wedding arc, I thought it was absolutely ridiculous. [Side Note: The Nightwing who fights Dick is actually Deathwing. I don't know. I didn't write it.] I actually hated that the writers would do that to those two. But with time, I thought it was fun(ny) in a way. The wedding was rushed and it was probably for the best, back then. I wanted to include it because well, why not? It adds to the chaos that follows Hailey everywhere. Because life in Gotham is just nutty as hell. Ask the Joker if you don't believe me.


	18. Chapter Seventeen

Tim felt like he was being pulled in every direction at once and he was folding under the pressure. The Titans had handed over the reins to the Teen Titans while they set out to help Raven so that she could in turn release Kory from whatever spell she’d placed her on. Dick was still currently at Kory’s side and Roy needed Tim to take over watching him because Roy was needed in DC. But Tim couldn’t do that. Tim had to help coordinate the Teen Titans—a recently formed team of which he was the leader—then head back to Gotham. Bruce had left him a message that he needed him back in the city since he’d been sent on a JL mission off-planet. He didn’t think he’d be gone longer than the weekend but he didn’t trust Azreal on his own just yet. Azreal needed more training and Tim was supposed to fill in for Bruce. To make matters worse, Tim’s parents returned early from a trip and called to find out where he was because they needed him back home. They had news of some sort to relay to him. And in the back of his mind, Tim was worried about Hailey. Luckily Alfred assuaged his fears informing him that she was currently in very good hands. Whatever that meant. 

Tim didn’t have time to think. He couldn’t listen to Roy’s grumblings about him practically being Dick’s brother and that Dick needed family or Conner’s rants about Tim abandoning the Team that he’d formed; he had to channel his inner Batman. He told Roy to call Wally to look after Dick. Wally wasn’t great with magic and wasn’t needed to help with Raven. Roy grinned, thanked him for the help, and then made the call. That was one down. He turned to Conner next and told him that the Teen Titans were in his hands; informing him that between him and Cassy they could lead the team just fine because he trusted them. Conner was surprised one moment and determined the next. He would step up as a leader in Tim’s stead. And with that out of the way, Tim left New York to face his father.

Jack Drake didn’t have the best news for his son Tim. Not only were his parents planning an extended archeology dig in Haiti but they wanted him to go with them. That was not happening. He wasn’t going to uproot his life. He was not going to give up being Robin because his parents wanted to go to Haiti for two years. And so an argument ensued. Not one in which he sounded like a child but a true conversation between adults. Because no matter the fact that Tim was fourteen years old, he’d been raising himself long enough to make decisions for himself. And maybe it helped his case that he brought up the fact that he’d become closer to Hailey and Bruce over the last few months and that his parents could always make arrangements for Bruce to check in on him for them. Actually, that was the clincher to Tim’s utter annoyance. 

Tim could take care of himself. He didn’t need a nanny. And he obviously didn’t need his parents around either. He was the leader of the Teen Titans. Not to mention that Batman was having him train someone for him. Someone who would eventually take the mantle of the bat. Tim didn’t think that Azreal was a good fit for the name or the role but Bruce wanted to settle down with his family and Tim couldn’t begrudge him that. Especially when his parents had never wanted to do that. Yeah, they invited him to go with them but then they’d probably shove him into the nearest school for boys where he would be out of their hair. Tim wasn’t an idiot. He was better off staying in Gotham than in some live-in school where he didn’t speak the main language. He knew some French but not enough to get by and he definitely didn’t speak Creole. 

* * *

To celebrate the new excursion they were about to embark, they took Tim out to dinner. Tim didn’t want to go with them but he had to further nullify them just in case they changed their minds and uprooted Tim without his consent. But dinner was running longer than he’d hoped. He’d never felt so annoyed at his parents before. He couldn’t help thinking that the sooner they left the better. But it was going to be another month for them to prepare for their next trip. An entire month that would feel like the longest of his life right at the start of summer vacation. Tim didn’t think he would be able to survive the wait.

“Mom?” Hailey said as she stood in the doorway of Perry’s office with her arms crossed over her chest. “I’m bored.”

“Uh, Lois, is there something you need to tell me?” Perry said with a raised eyebrow as he stared at the young girl.

“Perry, please,” Lois said in annoyance ignoring Clark’s nervous chuckle. “You’ve known me since I graduated from college. I’m sure you would know if I had one of those hidden somewhere.” Lois gestured to Hailey. “Are you lost honey?”

“Well, sorry, but you can’t ignore the fact that she has your eyes,” Perry said looking at the girl askance. 

Clark had already stood up and crouched in front of Hailey. They spoke in whispers and Lois turned to look at Perry aghast.

“Maybe it’s Clark who was hiding a big secret,” Lois said and looked over at the man. “Smallville? What the hell is going on?”   
  


Clark chuckled again and stood up straight. He placed a hand on Hailey’s back and ushered her into the office. 

“Uh, Perry, Lois, this is my goddaughter Hailey.”

“Goddaughter?” Perry said surprised. Did Clark have siblings he didn’t know about?

“Who would make you a godfather?” Lois said with a chuckle.

“My dad, obviously,” Hailey said a roll of her eyes. 

“Why’d she called you mom?” Perry said looking at Clark dubiously. 

“Um, well—”

“The word godfather comes with negative connotations,” Hailey explained making Clark chuckle and rub the back of his neck. “Fairy godmother is so much better but that’s too long to say so it’s a mom for short.”

Lois burst out laughing. “Oh, I like her.”

“I wonder why,” Perry said under his breath with a chuckle. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Hailey. In a couple of years make sure to give me a call so I can set you up here in the paper.”

“Oh, that’s not necessary,” Hailey told him. “I’m going to be a medic when I grow up.”

“Is that so?” Perry said with a grin. 

“Yup,” Hailey told him and tugged on Clark’s pant leg. “I need money for the vending machine.”

“Uh, yeah, let me just…” Clark said as he fumbled in his pocket but Lois beat him to it and handed Hailey a five-dollar bill. 

“Get me three musketeers and I promise by then your mom will be free to take you out of this stuffy place,” Lois told her with a wry smile.

“Thanks!” Hailey told them and ran off before Clark could tell her anything. 

“Sorry, Clark, I’ll catch up to her,” Jimmy said as he ran past the office after Hailey. He was supposed to be watching her while Clark had his impromptu meeting with Perry and Lois. 

Clark wasn’t supposed to work that weekend but when a story comes up they have to move fast before the competition publishes first.

“Sorry about that, Perry,” Clark said sheepishly. “It was a last-minute arrangement and I didn’t think you would call me this weekend.”

“As long as it doesn’t get in the way of your work,” Perry told him and continued on with the meeting.

  
  


“So that was her, huh?” Hailey said as she put money in the vending machine. 

Jimmy was catching his breath behind her. He’d told her that Clark had an awfully big crush on Lois and that he thought they were secretly dating only because he was running out of things to talk to her about. He had never thought she would be bold enough to interrupt the meeting just to meet Lois. As shy as Clark was, he assumed she was a little like him. She hadn’t been any trouble at all but then she distracted him and disappeared. 

“Yeah, but you can’t tell Clark I told you! Promise!”

“Hey, I can keep a secret!” Hailey told him and grinned as she took a bite of her chocolate bar.

“Yeah, how am I supposed to believe you when you lied about seeing Superman fly past the window,” Jimmy said in annoyance and accepted a packet of m&m’s she handed him as an apology.

“It was the only thing I could think of,” Hailey said with a shrug. “But it was funny.”

“Yeah, sure, funny,” Jimmy told her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Come on, let’s head back. I want to make sure they include me in this big story they’re planning in secret. Did you hear anything?”

“Of course, I did,” Hailey said and then didn’t say anything else.

“Well, what did you hear?”

“I can’t tell you,” Hailey said with a staring Jimmy down. “I’m not a blabbermouth.”

Jimmy huffed in annoyance. “Alright, fine. You made your point.”

Hailey grinned victoriously and made her way back to Perry’s office.

“Hey, where are you going?” Jimmy said trying to hold her back.

“I have to give Lois the candy bar she asked for,” Hailey said and winked at him. “And maybe you’ll hear something too.”

“Oh my god, you’re a genius!”

“I know,” Hailey said and smiled. “Come on, hurry before they stop talking.”

“Right, right,” Jimmy said and walked a little faster.

In the end, Jimmy was taken aside by Lois and informed that she needed him at her side the entire weekend while she interviewed a whistleblower. Perry assigned Clark to dig into this person’s background to make certain that he was a credible source. Lois had already her part and gave Clark all the information she had. All Clark had to do was make certain she hadn’t missed anything and to double-check that nothing was left uncovered. Perry wanted to make sure all their I’s were dotted and their T’s were crossed. Lois was notorious for being terrible at spelling. But she was one hell of a reporter and come Monday morning the world would wake up to one hell of a story courtesy of one Lois Lane. Perry White knocked his knuckles on his desk as he whispered, “Fall, Lex Luthor. For the love of God, just fall.”

* * *

As soon as they made it back to Clark’s apartment, Clark got to work on his background check using the laptop Bruce had given him for Christmas. It was linked to the Watchtower and it made his work a hell of a lot easier.

“Why’s Lex Luthor on your computer?” Hailey said as she peered around Clark’s large arm.

“He’s a horrible man and we’ve found information that will hopefully uncover his unethical business dealings for good,” Clark said with a note of anger in his voice. 

“They teach us at school that he’s a humanitarian,” Hailey said now looking at Clark as she leaned against the desk. “Is that not true?”

Clark sighed heavily ad turned to look at Hailey. “Sometimes men do very nice things to cover up the unspeakable horrors they commit.”

“And Lex Luthor is one of those people?”

“Undoubtedly.”

“Do you know why I want to become a medic?” Hailey asked Clark who tilted his head to the side at the nonsequitur. He shook his head. “I want to be able to help people right at the heart of the disaster. Because sometimes by the time people get to the hospital, it’s already too late.”

Clark frowned at her not understanding what she was saying and what it had to do with his work.

“I think journalism is the same. If you’re not at the heart of the story when you’re exposing it, by the time the story is ready for the press, it might be too late.”

Clark nodded in agreement.

“That’s true. But it might be enough to make a lot of people stop trusting him so easily even if he finds a way to defend himself. This expose Lois is working on  _ will _ make a difference,” Clark said determinedly. 

“Yeah?”

“Yes, I believe so.”

“Alright,” Hailey said with a shrug. “I’m going to take Krypto out for a walk so that you can finish your work.”

“Krypto,” Clark told the dog who had ran towards Hailey when he heard what she said. “Don’t fly off to Kansas with her. You need to stay within a two-block radius, understand?”

Krypto barked happily then ran to the door as Hailey readied his leash. He didn’t need it but the neighbors didn’t know he was a Superdog on loan from Superboy while Clark watched over Hailey. 

It didn’t take long after her arrival before Hailey told Clark that she knew he was Superman. Clark tried to laugh off the remark but he could tell that it didn’t work. She explained how she figured it out and that Conner didn’t even try to hide his powers in front of her. She told him how she didn’t understand how he could hide his identity when he didn’t even wear a mask like Batman who practically hid his entire face. Clark sighed and told her that people didn’t focus on his face so much when he was Clark and it made it easy to get by with just a pair of glasses. Though, Clark realized that she didn’t know about Bruce so he told her about Krypto to change the subject. Krypto was happy that he didn’t have to hide the fact that he wasn’t a regular dog in front of the girl. And Clark was happy to steer clear of further talks about Batman. He made a mental note to let Bruce know that Hailey knew he was Superman as soon as possible. And even though it wasn’t Bruce who’d outed him, he was happy that the girl in his care for the time being knew about his alter ego. It made things like using his super-speed so much easier around her. The trip back to Gotham would be that much shorter as well.


	19. Chapter Eighteen

After spending the weekend at Clark’s, Hailey returned to the manor in Bruce’s company car only to find out her dad hadn’t yet returned. He would be out of town for a few more days or so Alfred told her. She wished she could’ve stayed at Clark’s but the man was busy with work too. Plus it was her last week of school. That meant zero homework. She would be bored out of her mind. Though she coaxed Alfred to take her into the city. She went to the community center and had dinner with Mrs. Suarez. Alfred retrieved her at a decent hour and brought her back to the manor. 

Midweek, Dick surprised her. He was sitting in the living room when she came home from school. But he was sitting quite still looking at something in his hands. Instead of rushing into the room to hug her brother, as per her usual, she quietly walked in and sat beside him. In his hands was a black velvet box. He opened it as she stared at it. Inside were two gold bands. Wedding rings. 

“These were my parents,” Dick said in a quiet voice. “One of the only things I managed to hold onto after they died. We lived in a trailer that would travel with the circus. When my parents died, the trailer was left behind in Gotham when the circus moved on. It was looted of course. All I had from my previous home was whatever was packed for me by Haly or someone else. It wasn’t much. And very few things of theirs.

“My parents were wearing their rings when they died and the rings became part of the evidence. Once Zucco was convicted of murder, I was already living here in the manor with Bruce. He asked for the rings back from the police department and gave them to me. I always thought they should be worn not kept in a box.

“These were the rings Kory and I would wear as husband and wife. But they’re going to stay in the box. Because the priest was killed before we had been officially married. And once Kory came out of her coma she decided to break it off with me. I couldn’t even argue the point. So she left. Back to Tamaran.”

Dick shut the box with a snap and let out a small chuckle that morphed into a caustic laugh. He wiped his face and pocketed the box after a beat. 

“You know, I really hate it when Bruce is right.”

Hailey looked at him but didn’t say anything. 

“He said I was rushing the wedding. That I didn’t know Kory well enough. And that when push came to shove all she had to do was jump in her spaceship and I’d never see her again.

“I really didn’t think she’d do that. I still can’t believe she did. I stayed to wait in New York thinking she’d come to her senses and return. I tried to convince myself she was probably just on a mission. But she sent a message to the Titans. She decided Tamaran needed her as their princess more than Earth needed her as a Titan. She’s not coming back.”

He sat back and closed his eyes. Hailey copied him but took his hand in hers. He squeezed it and they sat like that for a moment. Quietly giving each other company and comfort. Then Dick stood up pulling Hailey up with him. 

“You want to know where Alfred keeps all the sweets?” he said with a small smile. Hailey smiled back and nodded. “We have to hurry and raid the stash before he stops us.”

Hailey giggled as they rushed into the kitchen. The coast was clear. Dick pulled out as many sweets as he could from the top shelf of the pantry. Hailey rolled her eyes. Adults always used high places to hide things. It wasn’t such a secret spot. Dick pulled out a blender, ice cream, and milk. Hailey felt a little excited. She’d heard about Dick’s milkshakes from Jason. 

“Pick your poison,” Dick told her with a smirk.

Hailey looked at the counter. There were so many things to choose from. 

“I can’t pick. You pick for me,” Hailey said not being able to choose on her own. 

“Alright. How about cookies and cream?” Dick said and Hailey nodded watching with rapt attention and yelping when the blender turned on. Dick chuckled at her and told her to get a couple of glasses. They had almost finished their shakes when Alfred walked into the kitchen.

“Master Richard,” Alfred said in a stern voice. “Do you have a reasonable excuse for ruining this child’s dinner?”

“Of course, I do Alfie!” Dick said and smiled softly. “I was making my special shakes to cheer us up.”

“I take it to mean you and Ms. Anders—“

“It’s over, Alf. She went back to Tamaran,” Dick said with a heavy sigh. 

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Alfred said politely. “How about I order in some pizza to make this a proper rally.”

Dick chuckled and elbowed Hailey who grinned. “What do you want on yours, short stuff?”

“Pepperoni.”

“That’s it? Only pepperoni? How about sausage and peppers?” Dick said, wanting Hailey to open up about what she wanted. But she didn’t answer, she only tightened her lips and fidgeted. “Okay, no sausage. Alright, Alf. How about a pepperoni for Hailey and my usual for me?”

“Right away, Master Richard,” Alfred said and made his way out of the kitchen to make the call to the local pizzeria. 

“You haven’t said much,” Dick said leaning against the counter to look at Hailey. “Is everything okay?”

Hailey nodded. She didn’t know how to tell him that she was happy to have him there but that she was sorry about what happened with Kory. And that she missed her dad. And that she wished Jason was still alive especially when she felt extra lonely. And that she wished Clark wouldn’t have sent her back home. But then she didn’t want that either. Clark was great. But he wasn’t her dad. And Mrs. Suarez was probably expecting her for dinner but she didn’t want to call her because if she did Dick might leave. She didn’t want Dick to leave. And, and, and. 

Hailey started to tear up. Dick noticed and hugged her. 

“Talk to me, Hailey,” Dick said softly. 

“Don’t leave. Please. Just don’t leave again,” Hailey said through a thick throat and swallowed hard. “Dad...he’s not back. He’s probably not coming back.”

“No, Hailey. He’s just busy with work but he’s coming back,” Dick said and caressed her back. “It’s normal for him to do this. He used to leave on business trips when I was a kid too. But he always came back.”

Hailey shook her head as tears spilled from her eyes. She didn’t believe him. Everyone kept telling her that Bruce was working but she hadn’t seen him or heard his voice since she left for Dick’s wedding. He hadn’t even called. Why hadn’t he called to talk to her? She knew something was very very wrong. 

“Come on,” Dick said, taking their shakes and heading to the lounge where they could cozy up and watch a movie. 

Hailey dozed off half-way through the movie after filling up with pizza. But she semi-woke to Dick arguing with someone. When she heard him say her dad’s name, she opened her eyes and focused on his voice. Dick was standing in the hallway. She could see his shadow from the entryway when she looked over.

“She thinks you’re not coming back, Bruce,” Dick said in a harsh whisper. “Have you even called to talk to her?”

There was no reply. Hailey realized that Dick was on the phone talking to Bruce.

“Busy with what? What could possibly keep you so busy—the Drakes? What about the Drakes?”

Hailey sat up quickly.  _ Oh, no. No, no, not Tim. Please, not Tim. Please. _

“My god, Bruce. Does Tim know?”

Hailey let out a soft shuddered breath. But tears were streaming down her eyes.  _ Janet. What if it’s Janet? No. No. No. _

“Tomorrow?” Dick said and sighed. “I’ll let Alfred know.”

Dick walked away and Hailey lifted her feet up on the sofa. She hugged her knees and cried softly into them.

Hailey wasn’t sure how long it’d been but when Dick came back she was still in the same position. She was staring blankly at the TV. Dick pulled her into his arms and told her everything would be okay. When he told her that Bruce would be back the next day, she uncoiled herself and wrapped her arms around Dick. He rubbed her back and hummed until she released him. He smoothed her hair back and smiled at her. 

“All better?”

Hailey nodded. “What happened to the Drakes?”

Dick pressed his lips together. He wasn’t too happy that she’d heard his phone call. “Let’s wait for Bruce to get back. He’ll tell us what happened then.”

Hailey nodded but she didn’t want to wait. If she waited, she’d end up worrying all night. 

“He didn’t tell me much,” Dick said and she knew that was true. Bruce never said much when he was busy. But Dick knew more than she did. And he wasn’t sharing.

“Do you know where Tim is?” Hailey asked as she moved back away from Dick to settle on the sofa.

“No, I haven’t seen him since…” Dick said and closed his eyes. “Alfred is calling him now.”

“Oh, okay,” Hailey said with a small nod.

“I think you went into a sugar coma earlier,” Dick told her with a small smile. Probably trying to lighten the mood. And wanting to change the subject. “You missed most of the movie. Want to watch it again or something else?”

“Something else. Not too happy,” Hailey said making Dick frown.

“So...not a comedy?” he asked tentatively. Hailey nodded. “Alright, hmm. What about action?” Dick said as he scrolled through a menu of titles until he found one about a robot boxer. He smiled at Hailey and she tried to smile back. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his side. “I haven’t seen this one. And...play.”

  
  


Neither Alfred nor Dick could coax Hailey to go to her room to sleep. She stayed in the lounge and fell asleep curled up on the sofa. She was awake until very late. When she woke, Dick was sitting on the floor beside her. His head resting was on the sofa cushion as he slept. And he had an arm wrapped around the shoulders of a smaller form. Hailey only saw dark short riffs of hair the rest of the form buried beneath blankets. 

Tim. It had to be Tim. She felt her eyes fill with tears. Something had happened to the Drakes. To his parents. Hailey wiped her eyes and was startled by a soft clearing of a throat. When she looked in the direction of the noise, she’d expected to see Alfred. But instead, she saw Bruce. And she jumped off the sofa and rushed at him. 

“Dad,” Hailey said with a croak. She hugged him tightly and he hugged her back. Then he lifted her into his arms and walked into the room fully. 

Bruce hadn’t said a word. He sat on the sofa with Hailey. Then he addressed Tim who was now awake. 

“We have to wait until the commissioner calls,” Bruce said in a quiet voice. “I’m so sorry, Tim.”

“I understand.”

Hailey didn’t understand the exchange. She looked up at Bruce who only brushed her hair back and sighed. 

“I didn’t mean to worry you. I was busy. But I made certain Alfred kept you apprised of my whereabouts,” Bruce told her. 

Hailey grimaced and looked down. She felt so stupid about worrying about her dad and being happy to see him. She wasn’t the one that needed comforting. Not anymore. Her dad was back. But Tim’s…

Hailey looked at Tim then at Bruce without saying a word. Bruce tightened his lips but shook his head slightly. It wasn’t the time to talk. Hailey nodded and hugged Bruce once more before she moved to sit next to Tim on the floor. She took his hand on hers but he didn’t even notice. Dick looked over at her and smiled softly. He kept his arm around Tim’s shoulder. It wasn’t long after that when Alfred announced Bruce had a call from the Commissioner. 

  
  


Janet Drake’s funeral was a polite affair. Even the press though present kept their distance from family and friends to be respectful of the youngest member of the family. Tim was solemn but politely thanked those who’d come to pay his mother respects. No one asked about Jack since it was widely known that he was in a coma that he may not wake from. Tim was placed under the guardianship of Bruce Wayne. Though no one said it aloud the parallels between Tim and Bruce were clearly seen. No one questioned Bruce’s motives for taking the boy in. They only saw one former billionaire orphan taking a soon to be millionaire orphan under his care for support and comfort only he may be able to offer. Tim stayed close to Bruce’s side. 

Hailey and Dick stayed on the sidelines. Close enough to offer moral support but not hovering over the pair while many came up to Tim to offer condolences. Though someone captured the pair in a pic that was posted in the paper the next day. At the forefront Tim had his head bowed looking despondent while Bruce who had a hand on his shoulder spoke in Tim’s behalf; in the background where the picture was more focused, Dick stood with his eyes closed and an arm around Hailey who was silently tearing up. The caption read: The youngest Wayne ignores elitist etiquette to mourn socialite Janet Drake with heartbreaking tears.

Bruce stared at the paper the next morning and groaned. The last thing he needed was the picture of his child in the paper. The Gotham Gazette hadn’t even contacted him about it. He knew that the only way they managed to circumvent getting his approval was that they didn’t include her full name. He needed to call his lawyer and his publicist about the picture. But he was grateful the focus wasn’t on Tim. The boy didn’t need any more reminders of what he’d lost. 

Bruce clasped his hands together and got lost in his thoughts. His mind was on Jack Drake. For Tim’s sake, Bruce hoped that the man came out of his coma. He didn’t want Tim to have to lose another parent so soon after burying one. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was so hard to write. It was like every word was fighting me. I'm hoping that now that I posted this one the next one will come a little easier.


	20. Chapter Nineteen

Tim was hurting. His mother had passed away. His father was in a coma. He was living in the manor. He had to answer questions from the press and his father’s company to keep the company from going under. He hardly slept. He didn’t speak much. He ate very little. And he looked like Bruce did most mornings. Like he was done. But he kept going because he had to. And he didn’t have time for anything or anyone unless it was Bruce. And even then only if it was business. 

Hailey didn’t know how to help Tim. But Alfred did. He always had a cup of coffee ready for him. Always had food and encouraged him to eat more. Sometimes Hailey heard them talking in the kitchen at night. But she didn’t linger or eavesdrop. She gave them their space. Alfred did more for Tim than Bruce. And Bruce and Alfred were arguing again when they thought no one could hear them. When Tim wasn’t home but Hailey was. And she sought out an escape. 

Gotham. She always went to Gotham. Her old neighbor Mrs. Suarez always welcomed her with open arms and food. Hailey missed living next door to her. She visited as often as she could. But she spent most of her time at the community center. She hadn’t even realized that she was staying out later and later. Even Alfred seemed to forget to fetch her. But Hailey didn’t mind taking the bus. One of Mrs. Suarez’s grandkids walked her to the bus stop whenever he ran into her as she left the community center. The once in a while run-in turned into an everyday thing. Hailey hadn’t thought much of it. Manuel was friendly. And Hailey assumed it was Mrs. Suarez who’d persuaded him to walk her to the bus stop. But she couldn’t have been more wrong about the situation. And if she’d known the true reason why Manuel sought her out, she would’ve put a stop to it. Maybe she still could…

“Manny, please, you need to stop,” Hailey said trying to push Manuel away. He’d pulled her into an alleyway and leaned towards her with his hands encircling her to keep her between him and the wall. “I don’t want to do this.”

“Hailey, come on. Stop playing hard to get,” Manuel said. “It’s been weeks. It’s time to take this to the next level.”

“Seriously, Manny. I’m not interested in taking this to any level. I thought we were friends—”

“Friends don’t walk you to the bus stop every night, baby. Friends say see you later not see ya tomorrow,” Manuel told her. “You’re always saying tomorrow with that sexy smile.”

Hailey pushed him a little harder. He’d almost kissed her that time. And it didn’t matter what she said he had a reply ready. “Ok. So now I know we’re not friends. I didn’t know that. But I don’t want you, Manuel. Not like this.”

“You don’t have to be scared of what you feel, baby,” Manuel said and leaned in closer. 

Hailey grabbed his face with her hand and squeezed. Her other hand was on his chest and she was pushing him away. But he was pressing forward. “I’m not scared. I just don’t want this. Stop—”

“No means no,” said a voice from above. 

Hailey and Manuel both looked up at the same time. And then suddenly Robin was behind them ripping Manuel out of her arms. Manuel was hit behind the knees and he screamed. Then he scooted away from Robin who was blocking Hailey with his body. 

“You think I care? Keep that stupid bitch,” Manuel said and hobbled out of the alley as fast as he could. 

“You idiot!” Hailey said and smacked Robin upside his head. 

“Ow. Hey. What gives?” Robin said, protecting his head and turning to look at her. 

“I had that under control. And you pissed him off. Now he’s going to come back more aggressive and I’m going to have to kick him in the balls and Mrs. Suarez is going to be so mad at me,” Hailey said and covered her face with her hands. 

“Woah. Woah. Slow down,” Robin said. “You knew that guy?”

“Yes! He’s… It doesn’t matter. The point is I could’ve talked him out of it. And then he would’ve—what? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Robin sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. He shook his head and held out a hand. “Come on, I’m taking you home.”

“I’m fine taking the bus,” she told him, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“You’re fine taking the bus! You almost got raped. I’m not letting you out of my sight,” Robin said stubbornly. 

“Raped?! What are you talking about? He was just trying to kiss me.”

Robin facepalmed. “You don’t know anything about boys, do you? And that kid had like three years on you.”

“I know enough. He wasn’t going to—”

“He was.”

Hailey stared at him and it slowly dawned on her that the situation had been a lot more serious than she’d believed. She just didn’t think– “But I know him.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Hailey wrapped her arms around her middle. She suddenly felt very exposed. 

“Was he really–?”

Robin didn’t answer. Instead, he held out a hand for her to take. So she did. He walked down the street with her to a nearby coffee shop where he left her with a girl wearing an eggplant hoodie. Hailey was too lost in thought to pay much attention. She eyed the drink and muffin placed before her skeptically. And before she’d realized it, Robin was back. He walked her to his bike and they sped away from Gotham towards Bristol at a breakneck speed. But Hailey didn’t notice. Nor did she realize that Alfred had been waiting at the door for her. She slipped right by him and went straight to her room. It wasn’t until she was lying in bed close to falling asleep that she jerked awake. She gasped and covered her mouth. 

“Tim,” she said softly. Robin had Tim’s voice. So if Tim was Robin maybe that meant he was handling things better than she thought. He didn’t need her. So her uselessness was forgiven by the karmic deities somehow and sent him to help her? That didn’t make any sense. But being Robin was a good thing. That meant Tim was okay. That he would be okay. But just in case he wasn’t, she said a silent prayer for him like she did every night since Janet Drake died. 

Hailey closed her eyes. It seemed like hours before she fell asleep but it had only been a few minutes. 

When she woke up in the morning, Bruce was in her room. 

“Dad?” Hailey said sitting up and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She yawned. “What are you doing in my room?”

“I heard about last night,” Bruce said and stood up from the chair he’d been sitting on to sit on her bed. 

“I know how to defend myself,” Hailey said. “I take self-defense classes at the community center.”

“I am aware of that,” Bruce said and ran a hand through her hair so that he could see her face clearly. “I was told that this person was a friend. And sometimes we don’t know how to defend ourselves from a dangerous situation when it’s a friend who’s causing it.”

“Yeah,” Hailey said and sighed. She rubbed her arms feeling cold even though the room was warm. “But I guess he just wanted me to think we were friends. So now I know not to hold back next time.”

“From him?” Bruce said and Hailey nodded. “There will be others. And maybe the next will be a friend. It could be a boyfriend. Maybe a stranger. But the one thing you need to remember is that at any time if anyone makes you feel uncomfortable no matter who they are or where you are, don’t hold back. And Hailey, don’t forget to scream for help.”

“Scream?” Hailey said curiously. 

“Yes. I know it’s important to feel in control. To know that you have the power to defend yourself. But sometimes your opponents will be stronger than you. Sometimes they won’t. Regardless, if you scream for help they can’t say that you were saying one thing but really meant another. Because unfortunately saying no or stop is not enough. Not with certain types of people. You have to scream for help without panicking if at all possible. Always look for an exit, a way to escape, before you start to defend yourself.”

“I understand,” Hailey said with a nod. She never would have thought she’d find herself in a situation like the one she’d been in the night before. And it scared her. 

“I want you to wear this whenever you leave the house from now on,” Bruce told her, handing her a watch. He pointed at a button on the side. “That’s a panic button. If you’re ever in trouble push the button.”

“What happens when I push the button?” Hailey said looking at the watch curiously. 

“Help will be on its way as soon as possible.”

“Help?” Hailey said and looked at Bruce. “Like the police?”

“An alert will go out. If the police are closest, they’ll arrive first.”

“And if they’re not…?”

“Batman will head your way.”

“Oh,” Hailey said in surprise. “Okay. But what if I accidentally push it?”

“It’s fine,” Bruce told her. “If you're aware that you have accidentally pressed the button, call the manor or me. We’ll turn off the alert.”

Hailey nodded. “Do I have to wear it all the time?”

“Preferably when you leave the manor.”

“Even for school?”

Bruce nodded. 

“Are you overreacting just a little bit?”

Bruce closed his eyes and sighed. “I might be.”

Hailey smiled and hugged him with watery eyes. She was glad he overreacted because now she didn’t have to be scared to leave the manor. She didn’t want to feel scared to leave the manor. But she kind of did. And she didn’t like that feeling. 

Bruce was stunned momentarily that she hadn’t been upset. But he relaxed and hugged her back. 

“Thanks, Dad,” Hailey said softly and moved away. “I was scared.”

Bruce pulled her in for another hug and rubbed her back. “It was a scary situation to be in.”

Hailey started to cry. She felt so stupid. She could’ve easily hit him and gotten away. But she thought she could talk him out of it. The more she tried the more she realized he wasn’t going to back off. But she hadn’t done enough to defend herself. Because she knew him. She knew him. He wasn’t supposed to try to hurt her. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Bruce said softly. 

“No.”

“That’s okay.”

* * *

When Hailey came down for breakfast, Tim was there. And he was acting like he didn’t know anything. Like he hadn’t been the one to save her. And she had to act like she didn’t know he was Robin. Because if he wanted her to know he would tell her. Jason had told her even though he wasn’t supposed to. Tim probably wasn’t supposed to either. And so they ate quietly. Hailey eyed him every so often. And Tim pretended like he didn’t notice or that he wasn’t watching her surreptitiously. 

After breakfast, Hailey walked outside to the gardens. She kept fiddling with the watch on her wrist. Bruce had told her to wear it whenever she left the manor. Did the gardens count? Was she supposed to wear it while she was still on the manor grounds? She wasn’t sure. She probably should have asked more questions. The watch felt heavier than it was. It was probably some sort of mental thing. Something subconscious that made her feel like she was wearing shackles instead of a watch. But they weren’t real. Not the shackles. Not the weight. It was just her fear. But if she didn’t wear the watch and it happened again…

“Hailey,” Tim said as he came up behind her. She yelped and turned around to face him with her fists up. “Woah, hey. Just me.”

“Yeah,” Hailey said and put her hands down. “You scared me.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. I was just thinking,” Hailey said and turned around to face the garden again.

“About what?”

“Shackles,” she said without thinking.

“What?” Tim said, sounding confused. “Why shackles?”

Hailey shrugged. Then she fiddled with the watch again. Tim’s eyes honed in on the watch then he eyed his own wrist that had one similar. He sighed heavily in understanding.

“Bruce is just…”

“Overprotective, yeah I know,” Hailey said with a small smile. “But it’s kind of funny when he acts like a dad. He’s so bad at it most of the time. But then he shows you another side of him. And you know that he really cares when he does something like this.” Hailey lifted her arm to show off her watch.

“Yeah,” Tim said and shook his head. “That’s true. But he’s a better dad than mine was.”

Hailey looked at him then. Tim looked so sad. She grabbed his hand and looked at the flowers as they swayed in the wind. She wanted to know how Tim’s dad was but she was afraid to ask.

“The doctors think he’ll wake up soon.”

“Your dad?” Hailey said and looked at Tim again.

“Uh-huh,” Tim said but he wasn’t looking at her. 

“That’s good, right?”

“Sure,” Tim said and squeezed her hand. 

Hailey didn’t say anything. She didn’t think it was her place. She didn’t know much about Jack. He went out of town a lot. With Janet. Without Tim. Maybe Tim was just pretending they were still out of town. When Jack woke from his coma and was around without Janet then her death would be real to him. Maybe that was why he wasn’t excited about his dad waking up. 

Hailey knew she should say something but she didn’t know what to say. She knew what it felt like when someone died. The hole it left behind. The disconnect that you felt when the world kept going like the person who’d just died didn’t matter. The knowledge of having to go one without them. And the guilt of being alive and wanting to stay alive regardless of what happened to them. But even still, that didn’t mean Tim felt the same way. Or maybe he did. And if he did, he might not want to talk about it like she didn’t want to talk about it. Not when her dad died. Not when Jason died. And not when her step-mother died. Because that one hadn’t even hurt. But it made her feel so much more guilty because it didn’t. Like Lynn hadn’t mattered to her even though she did just not like her dad had mattered. 

Hailey wanted to cry. Not for the people she lost but for Tim. Because she didn’t think he could anymore. And if he couldn’t cry maybe she should cry for him. But maybe not when he was standing right next to her. So instead, she squeezed his hand a little harder. She prayed for him to have a little peace right now and the strength to cry when Jack woke up. When she finished her prayer, she felt him squeeze her hand back and then he exhaled. Then he turned to look at her and smiled. She smiled back and then crushed him with a hug. Just because she couldn’t thank him for saving her as Robin, she could be thankful for his smile. And when he hugged her back she felt like the world had righted itself just a little in Tim’s favor.


	21. Chapter Twenty

Hailey noticed at night that the quiet of the manor was different from before. When she was the only one around for breakfast the next morning, she figured something had happened. She kept waiting for word from Alfred or Bruce but the days passed without any news. 

Tim had moved out. He was living in the city with his father who’d finally come out of the coma. But Jack needed to be near the rehabilitation center for his appointments. Or that was the excuse. The truth was that his business was in trouble and since he spent so long in a coma he needed money. So he sold his mansion and downgraded to an apartment. A very nice apartment but an apartment nonetheless. Tim had even changed schools. Hailey hadn’t seen him or thought to call him to ask about Bruce. She didn’t think he’d seen him around. 

When Hailey called the office at the end of the week to inquire about Bruce’s whereabouts, Lucious Fox told her that Bruce was in a hospital overseas due to a bad accident but that he’d recover soon. He asked if she was alone so Hailey lied and said she was with the sitter but that said sitter didn’t know anything. Lucious only sighed and told her he’d contact her if he heard from Bruce. He mentioned something about Alfred having quit and looking into someone who could replace him. When Hailey heard that Alfred had quit, she stopped listening. She didn’t remember hanging up on Lucious or dialing Tim’s phone number. What snapped her back to reality was Alfred’s voice on the other end. 

“Master Timothy’s phone. May I ask who is on the line?” 

“Alfred?” Hailey croaked.

“Oh, Miss Hailey. It’s good to hear your voice, dear child,” Alfred said. Hailey didn’t respond. “Master Timothy is indisposed at the moment. Is there a message I can pass along?”

“Indisposed?” Hailey said in disbelief. “You quit working for Bruce so that you could work for Tim?”

“No, dear,” Alfred said and he sounded tired suddenly but he recovered quickly. “However, the details behind retiring my long term service for the Wayne family is not proper chit chat. In answer to your question about how I came to find myself in Master Timothy’s care, I believe there is no problem in sharing with you that I was recruited into the Drake household when Master Jack was made aware that my employ from the Wayne household had come to an end.”

“How convenient for you,” Hailey said with a scoff and hung up the phone. 

He’d abandoned her. Not even said goodbye. All the while Bruce was in the hospital. Overseas. He left her. Alone. In the great big mansion. He’d already cast her aside when Tim moved in but this... 

Hailey didn’t believe for one second that Alfred joined the Drake household simply by chance. It was a premeditated move. She was certain of it. For all that talk from Bruce that Alfred was family and he just swapped one household for another without a second glance. Hailey was just the adopted daughter after all. She wasn’t a proper Wayne. Not in Alfred’s eyes. Apparently. 

Before she realized what she was doing, Hailey had gone upstairs and began to pack. She was only going to take a few necessities. But it was when she’d made it downstairs and held the doorknob in a vice grip that she stopped, dropped her backpack, and just crumbled to the ground with a pained sob. 

She couldn’t leave. If she did, Bruce would have nothing to come home to. She had to wait for Bruce. For her dad. Hailey wiped her face furiously and trudged back upstairs. She lay in bed and cried herself to sleep.

When she woke up the next morning, it was to a slimy wet brush across her entire face.   
  


“Jason!” Hailey shouted automatically until a dog barked and brought her back into the present. Because Jason was dead and it couldn’t have been him that woke her like that. The dog whined and hopped up on top of the bed snuffling into her hands. Hailey let out a sound that was part sob and part laugh. “Krypto, what are you doing here?”

The dog just barked again and tugged on her sleeve to get her out of bed. Krypto pushed her towards the bathroom and Hailey began to chuckle.   
  


“Alright, alright,” she said, shoving the dog’s head away. “I’m going. I’m going.”

She realized that Krypto must have heard her crying and come to comfort her. She chuckled again as she got in the shower. She wondered where Clark was because she was almost certain Krypto had come to her on his own. She thought about calling him but she didn’t want to bother him and she didn’t want to leave the mansion. She was going to wait for Bruce. Someone had to be there when he returned.

In better spirits, Hailey went downstairs and prepared her own breakfast. She was chatting with Krypto the entire time. She swore the dog could understand her and from the way he tilted his head or the look in his eyes, she could imagine his response and react accordingly. She went to school and returned on the bus. No one asked why Alfred wasn’t driving her any longer. It’s as if everyone already knew that Alfred worked for the Drake’s now. And she had ridden the bus before. It simply became a daily occurrence; as were the weeks that followed. 

Sasha Bordeaux arrived at the manor one week prior to Bruce’s arrival. She’d been hired by Lucious Fox as his bodyguard. She prepared for his arrival by becoming acclimated to Hailey’s schedule and the manor grounds. She didn’t say one word about Hailey’s lack of supervision. She simply raised an eyebrow at Krypto but didn’t say a word about him. She kept an eye on Hailey as she prepared her own breakfast the first day, but the morning that followed breakfast was waiting for her when she came down downstairs. 

“Thank you,” Hailey said to Sasha after a quiet good morning wish that came with a curt nod in response. 

Sasha looked over Hailey’s shoulder as she did her homework and hummed in surprise. The next day, Hailey found new books on her desk that were surprisingly helpful. Hailey thanked Sasha for them and she received a pat on the shoulder in response. The more space Hailey gave Sasha, the closer to her the woman came. By the third night, she wished Hailey a good night. On the fourth day, she drove her to school and told her she’d be back when the bell rang. She did the same on Friday. On Saturday when Hailey was walking out the door, Sasha followed her. 

“There’s no school today, where are you going?” Sasha questioned with a furrowed brow.

“The community center,” Hailey said and pointed towards the city. “I take classes there and help tutor the other kids in the afternoon.”

“What type of classes?”

“Self-defense, and gymnastics.”

“I’ll drive you.”

“You don’t have to. I can take the bus,” Hailey told her. But Sasha simply waved a hand and told her to wait for her to bring the car around.

Hailey had no idea why Sasha had followed her into the community center but the other kids had asked her of Sasha was her mom. Hailey simply shook her head and said that she worked for her dad. The other kids weren’t aware that she was Bruce Wayne’s adopted daughter. No one really expected a Wayne to be at a community center. Some of the older kids looked at her curiously when she first started going there, but they figured she only looked like the girl they saw in the paper one time. Bruce had done a good job of keeping her face out of the camera’s view. Sasha kept her distance and told her she did well on the way back to the manor. Hailey smiled shyly and thanked her.

It wasn’t until Tuesday of the following week while Hailey was in school that Bruce returned. He was in a wheelchair when Hailey saw him but she still threw her arms around him before she burst into tears.

“Alfred quit,” Hailey told him as he wiped her eyes after he’d lifted her onto his lap.

“I know,” Bruce said and he sounded very sad. “Lucious said you had a sitter. Did he hire someone for you before he left?”

“No,” Hailey said and shook her head.

“Then who did?”

Hailey tightened her lips and looked away.

“Are you talking about the dog? Was it supposed to be the sitter?” Sasha said curiously. “Because other than the dog, she was alone when I arrived.”

“What?!” Bruce barked at Sasha who flinched back at the anger in his tone. Bruce turned his gaze to Hailey when he felt her jerk in surprise. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. “Hailey, were you here all alone?”

“I...only for a couple of days and then Krypto came to keep me company. He left a couple of days after Sasha started to work here,” Hailey said quietly not looking at Bruce.

Bruce sighed heavily and rubbed the bridge of his nose before he drew Hailey into a hug. “I’m sorry. I had no idea.” Hailey didn’t say anything. The only noise she made was a little sniffle. “Did Clark send him? Have you talked to him?”

Hailey shook her head and then shrugged. She’d tried to get into contact with Clark but he never answered his phone. When she called his work the paper said he was on an extended leave of absence. But Hailey didn’t want to voice any of that. She was worried about Clark too.

“Has Dick stopped by?”

Hailey shook her head and Bruce tightened his hold on her. He rubbed her back and kissed her on her head. “I’m here now…”

“I know,” Hailey said and looked up at him with a watery smile. “I was waiting for you. Lucious told me you were in a hospital but I knew you would get better and come right back.”

Bruce didn’t say anything, he simply hugged her again and then wheeled them over to the lounge. He asked her what she wanted to watch, but Hailey told him to choose. She dozed off during the movie, emotionally spent from her reunion with her dad.

“—surprisingly self-sufficient. How old did you say she was?”

“Thirteen and still too young to have been left on her own. I need to make a few calls to make certain something like this never happens again. Do you mind taking her up to bed?”

“Not at all, Mr. Wayne,” Sasha said in a hushed tone. 

Hailey felt her arms behind her back and under her legs before she was lifted up off her father’s lap. Her eyelids were still heavy and she wasn’t completely awake but she could hear Sasha shushing her and saying sweet words to her before she was overcome by sleep once more.

Hailey stirred in her sleep when she heard Bruce's voice. It was loud and booming. But she couldn't make out the words. She only heard him say Alfred in a very cold voice. And then she started to dream that Alfred had baked some cookies for Bruce but Bruce wouldn't eat them. He made more and more until Bruce told him that if he made more cookies he would never speak to him again. When Hailey woke the next morning, she was craving cookies. And under Sasha's curious eyes, she slipped into the pantry and grabbed a package of cookies. When Bruce saw her eating more cookies than what Sasha had made her for breakfast, he simply raised an eyebrow. Then he stole a couple for himself. Hailey giggled and even Sasha smiled when Bruce dunked a cookie into his coffee. 

"That's kind of gross, dad," Hailey said.

"Well, it's not so great. But I've already committed to the dunk."

Sasha started to laugh under her hand quietly and Hailey shook her head.

"I'll get you some milk if you toss it," Hailey said.

Bruce shrugged. He finished the cookie then followed that with his coffee. "Waste not."

Hailey nodded sagely and stuffed another cookie into her mouth.

Bruce winked at her then went back to reading the paper. He was tired, spent most of the night arguing with Alfred, and then Dick about having left Hailey on her own while he was convalescent in a hospital. He was going to have to meet up with Lucious and set up a protocol to ensure it wouldn't happen again. And he hadn't been able to get ahold of Clark. He was beginning to worry about him and Diana. They were on a mission with J'onn and Hal off-planet but they hadn't reported back. His injury had come at the worst possible moment. Not only that but he had a Batman that he would need to replace and soon. The reports in the paper about him were alarming. He was going to have to push himself further to get better so that he could get rid of his replacement. Bruce had come to the realization that he wasn't going to be able to retire as Batman any time soon. 


End file.
